In a recent Twitter chat with his fans, which is something Dee Snider does often, the singer commented that the late Ronnie James Dio was a great singer, but not a great frontman.

After commemorating Cozy Powell’s birthday and inviting everyone to listen to the first 11 seconds of “Stargazer”, which he considers as the “best metal song ever”, he exchanged views about singers and frontmen with his followers.

When a fan wrote that Dio is the second best frontman ever, with Freddie Mercury being at the top, Dee replied:  “You are confusing singing with performing. There is 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. Freddie was an amazing singer AND frontman.”

He also commented on another fans remark about Robert Plant being the”quintessential frontman”: “I’m a HUGE Plant fan vocally…but he showed me nothing as a performer. Looked amazing, great hair…stood on stage with one hand raised and sang his ass off. Not a frontman in my opinion. And FYI many great frontmen are not great singers.”

Snider later added: “My frontmen are all over the stage and interact with the crowd. Showmen. Think David Lee Roth, Paul Stanley, Mick Jagger… Axl Rose… the list goes on.” After getting more pushback from other Twitter users, Dee noted, “I knew this would upset people,” before trying to explain: “I am NOT saying that Dio, Plant etc, don’t have stage presence. They have it in SPADES! But they are not performers.”

As for himself he wrote: “I pride myself in my abilities, but many don’t know me for it because I didn’t tour as extensively as others. If you ask me what I do best I will tell you ‘front a band.'”