Anthony Jude Pero (October 14, 1959 – March 20, 2015) was an American drummer, known for his work with heavy metal bands

Twisted Sister Twisted Sister was an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in 1972 in Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, and later based on Long Island, New York (state), New York. Their best-known songs include "We're Not Gonna Take It (Twisted Sister song ...

and

Adrenaline Mob Adrenaline Mob is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal supergroup (music), supergroup formed in early 2011 by singer Russell Allen, guitarist Mike Orlando and drummer Mike Portnoy. The band's current lineup consists of Allen, Orlando, and ...

Biography

Pero was born in the

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

borough of

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

. He attended

New Dorp High School New Dorp High School, commonly referred to as New Dorp or NDHS, is a public school on the East Shore of the New York City borough of Staten Island in the New Dorp neighborhood. The school is administered by the New York City Department of Edu ...

and graduated in 1977. He was initially a jazz drummer, later gravitating to heavier music akin to Rush and

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

. Pero worked as a taxi driver for a time, and joined Cities, a local New York City band. He joined

in April 1982, after seeing them play at a club and being told that the group was in need of a drummer. Several years later, upon his departure from Twisted Sister in July 1986, he re-joined Cities. He participated in Twisted Sister's 1997 reunion and continued to perform with the band until his death. He was also a member of the

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and media personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead singer of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which per ...

cover band, No More Tears. In 2007, Pero formed Circle Of Thorns with former Cities guitarist Steve Mironovich aka Steve Irons. In 2011, Pero played drums on a song titled "Elephant Man" on the

Eric Carr Paul Charles Caravello (July 12, 1950 – November 24, 1991), better known as Eric Carr, was an American musician. He was the drummer for the rock band Kiss from 1980 until his death in 1991. Caravello was selected as the new Kiss drummer afte ...

CD '' Unfinished Business''. On December 3, 2013, Pero was announced as the new drummer of the band

Death

On March 20, 2015, Adrenaline Mob's band members and crew attempted but failed to wake Pero on their tour bus. The band was traveling from

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Poughkeepsie Poughkeepsie ( ) is a city within the Town of Poughkeepsie, New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie is in the Hudson River Valley region, midway between the core of the New ...

. Pero was taken to a hospital where he was declared dead from an apparent heart attack. In 2017, the band released their third studio album, ''

We the People The Preamble to the United States Constitution, beginning with the words We the People, is a brief introductory statement of the Constitution's fundamental purposes and guiding principles. Courts have referred to it as reliable evidence of ...

'', containing Pero's last recording: a cover of

Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Idol achieved fame in the 1970s on the London punk rock scene as the lead singer of Generation X ...

's "

Rebel Yell The rebel yell was a battle cry used by Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War. Confederate soldiers used the yell when charging to intimidate the enemy and boost their own morale, although the yell had many other uses. There ar ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pero, A. J. 1959 births 2015 deaths Twisted Sister members American heavy metal drummers Musicians from Staten Island Adrenaline Mob members American taxi drivers New Dorp High School alumni American people of Italian descent St. Peter's Boys High School alumni American male drummers Drummers from New York City