Twisted Sister’s frontman Dee Snider recently posted a photo on his Instagram account and paid tribute to a friend and guitar hero who passed away in 2019 due to a heart attack, who is, according to Snider, best known for his amazing performances with Ozzy Osbourne.

As you know, Dee Snider is one of the most popular metal figures of the late ’70s and ’80s and he achieved worldwide fame as the frontman of Twisted Sister. However, after they disbanded, Snider started carving his own path in the metal scene and one of his first projects was Desperado, the band that he formed in 1988.

Bernie Tormé was hired as the band’s guitarist and he and Snider developed a very close friendship. Before joining Desperado, Tormé was actually hired to play in Ozzy Osbourne’s band. In 1982, upon the unexpected passing of another guitar legend, Randy Rhoads, Jet Records hired Tormé to fill in for him. However, after only just a few shows, it became clear to some that Tormé‘s bluesy style was not a very good fit for Osbourne’s heavy metal sound, and he decided to leave the band.

In the caption of his post, Dee Snider actually said the opposite of the claim mentioned above. He stated that one of the reasons why he loves and respects Tormé so much is that he had the courage to accept ‘the thankless job of taking over for Randy Rhoads’ and that anyone who saw Ozzy and Bernie on stage ‘was blown away.’ He finished his message by saying that he’ll always be missed both as a musician and as a friend and wished him a happy birthday even if he’s not with us anymore.

Here’s what Dee Snider said in the caption of his post:

“Two years ago today I lost a dear friend and the world lost a guitar hero. Bernie Torme. We worked in Desperado together and he played in Gillan and a number of solo projects. But he should always be remembered for being the man who had the thankless job of taking over for Randy Rhoads only 2 weeks after his untimely death. Anyone who saw Bernie with Ozzie at that time was blown away. Tomorrow would have been his birthday. I miss you, Bernie. My love and thoughts go out to your wife Lisa and your three beautiful kids.”

Click here to check out the photo that Dee Snider posted on his Instagram account.