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Dee Snider doubles down on comments that Robert Plant and Ronnie James Dio were not “great frontmen”

“I’ve actually taken a lot of time to think about and consider it.”

Dee Snider

Credit: Katya Ogrin / Redferns via Getty

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Dee Snider has reiterated his reasoning why Robert Plant and Ronnie James Dio were great singers but not “great frontmen”.

Speaking to Ultimate Guitar, Snider explained that his comments, which were made on Twitter earlier this year, were slightly misinterpreted. “When I said they weren’t great frontman, everybody said, ‘Here’s Dee shooting his mouth off again.’ But I’m not just shooting my mouth off,” he told the outlet, adding, “I’ve actually taken a lot of time to think about and consider it. I didn’t just make an arbitrary statement. I’ve thought about it. I got on my computer, and I studied and researched it.”

Snider took pains to explain how he separates a singer from a frontman, saying, “Now, a frontman doesn’t have to sing well but needs to be a guy who can engage the audience and entertain the people who stand there,” as a frontman that “can wow the crowd with their incredible voice” is entertaining on a different level from a full-on performance. “I am not saying I’m Robert Plant, nor am I saying I’m even in his league. Having said that, I do something at a level that he doesn’t do, and that is I engage the crowd,” Snider qualified.

Snider first made the comments in a Twitter thread in January where he asserted that Dio and Plant were great singers, but noted that there was a “huge difference between a great frontman & a great singer”. “Ronnie was one of the greatest singers of all time, but as a frontman, he pretty much just stood on stage & sang,” he explained, extending the same opinion when questioned about his thoughts on the Led Zeppelin singer.

“And FYI many great frontmen are not great singers,” he concluded.

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