Drum legend A.J. Pero, who rose to fame with Twisted Sister and eventually joined Adrenaline Mob, passed away in March 2015 after suffering a massive heart attack. Back on August 11th, Adrenaline Mob frontman Russell Allen posted the following message on Facebook in Pero's memory

"I had a dream about A.J. last night. We we're watching a video of one of our performances and making fun of ourselves and laughing together. We did that a lot. The night before he passed he gave me this necklace. He ceremonially put it on me and said 'I've been blessed to have played behind some of the greatest front men of all time and you're one of them, Russ. You truly are. You are the pirate captain, and It's been an honor to have been in the band with you.' No one has ever shown me the kind of respect that Tony did. I'll cherish this gift forever and wear it in his memory. I miss you AJ! Thanks for being in my dreams last night and sharing a few laughs with this old pirate."

Twisted Sister guitarist Jay Jay French has penned a new article for Inc.com recapping the band's first show without Pero. The article is entitled The Power Of 10,000 Hours, talking about the benefits of practicing your art. An excerpt is available below.

French: "Here is my confession. There were just too many unknowns this time. Too many potential areas of disruption. Too much emotion. Because it was the first show of the year, I just couldn't get lost in the performance. My mind was overwhelmed by the confluence of information. And I was still dealing with my own emotions about this first show without A.J.

So what did I do? I consciously let go. I set my brain on autopilot and let the songs flow out. I kept in the back of my mind an idea of what I would need to do if something really went out of control. But I tried not to think about it, and instead, I relied on my ability to do something I'd done for more than 10,000 hours.

And… nothing bad happened. The show went on about as smoothly as I could have hoped.

This is what separates the big boys from the also-rans. The confidence--in our case, forged in the fires of the live club circuit -- that we could always deliver, no matter what was thrown at us, is burned into our DNA. As long as we want to do it, it will be done at the highest levels."

Click here for the complete article.

On March 20th, Pero passed away from a massive heart attack. In April, Twisted Sister vocalist Dee Snider spoke to TMZ about Pero's death; see the following video.

Dee recently defended his previous statement during his Snider Comments podcast, saying "People die every day, and I don't go as far as to speak out about the way they chose to go. You know, I spoke out about A.J. because I'm hurt, and his family is hurt, and the world he left behind is in complete turmoil as a result of it."

Snider went on to say, "I had an opportunity to remind people that, hey, heart disease is just that — it's a disease. Don't put your head in the sand and don't pretend that there's no problem when you know your whole family has a history of any sickness — of cancer, of heart disease, of prostate problems… of whatever it is. I mean, everybody should get checked out, but especially if you're genetically predisposed."

Listen to Dee share more of this thoughts about this tragic, and preventable situation, via the audio player below.