crew, saying, 'Guys, thank you. It's been great. See you later.' I never looked back." During his career with Twisted Sister, French estimates that he performed live with the band in more than 9,000 concert performances worldwide. The Pinkburst Project In 1996, French's daughter Samantha was diagnosed at age 6 with uveitis, a condition of the eye. In 2010, to raise money and awareness, French created The Pinkburst Project. The project collected 14 pink custom-made guitars crafted by brands that included Fender, Gibson, Gretsch and Martin. At a benefit concert, “The Pinkburst Project: An Evening with Twisted Sister," the guitars were auctioned off. The auction and concert raised more than $110,000 for the Ocular Immunology and Uveitis Foundation for research, education and support for those affected by Uveitis and other inflammatory eye diseases. Writing and speaking French writes a business column for Inc.com titled "The French Connection." He is also a motivational speaker at corporate and business conferences, including at an Inc. 500 conference. He is a contributing editor to Goldmine magazine for a Beatles column titled "Now We're Sixty Four!" He also writes a general music column titled "Twisted Systems" for the online music magazine Copper. Book A business memoir, Twisted Business: We're Not Gonna Take it Anymore, co-written with French by Extreme Leadership founder, leadership speaker and author Steve Farber, is set for release in 2021 by RosettaBooks. Personal life French's first wife, Jodie Glickman, sang in the chorus on Twisted Sister's Live at Wacken: The Reunion album and is sister to the band's bass player, Mark Mendoza. French lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with his third wife Sharon Gitelle, whom he married in Las Vegas in 2016 after a 13-year courtship. An avid runner, French has taken part in and completed two New York Marathons, in 1981 and 1986. References External links Jay Jay French official website Pink Burst Project site Huffington Post, "Christmas Meets Politics: Chatting With Twisted Sister's Jay Jay French and The Mavericks' Raul Malo," December 14, 2011 American heavy metal guitarists Twisted Sister members Living people 1952 births Jewish heavy metal musicians George Washington Educational Campus alumni Guitarists from New York City American male guitarists 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians Jewish American writers 21st-century American writers Writers from New York City 21st-century American Jews