Twisted Sister Guitarist Gets His Back Straightened

Ojeda was forced to go into surgery to repair a ruptured disc after suffering intense pain that prevented him from standing or sitting.

He is now recuperating and guitarist Jay Jay French said Ojeda is feeling better.

“I talked to him this morning, and he says he feels much better,” French said. “They want to see if he can stand for two hours and play. He plans to try it.”

If Ojeda is feeling up for it the guitarist will join his bandmates at Sunday’s show at Nokia Theater Times Square in New York.

If he’s not fully recovered, Dan McCafferty, who played guitar in singer Dee Snider’s solo band, Dee Snider’s SMFs, will instead join the band on stage. McCafferty was called in as a last-minute replacement at Wednesday’s show at Keswick Theater in Glenside.

But rather than fill in for Ojeda, McCafferty played French’s guitar parts and French took over for Ojeda. McCafferty had previously played French’s guitar parts when performing Twister Sister songs in Dee Snider’s SMFs.

“He played my parts and I had to learn Eddie’s parts, which I had never done in all these years ’cause there was never a reason for me to,” French said.

After Sunday’s show Twisted Sister performs in the lighting of the New York Stock Exchange Christmas tree Dec. 10. The band then heads for Vegas for a three-night residency at Las Vegas Hilton Dec. 15-17.

The dates are part of the band’s annual “Twisted Christmas” tour, named after the band’s 2006 holiday album, A Twisted Christmas.

Click here for a free MP3 download of Twisted Sister’s version of the classic Christmas tune. “Oh Come All Ye Faithful.”

Click here for Twisted Sister’s Web site.

Click here for the AP article.