Fozzy

Fozzy is an American heavy metal band, formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1999 by lead singer Chris Jericho and guitarist Rich Ward. The band is currently signed to Century Media Records and have released two studio albums through this label. ^[1] The band current lineup consists of Chris Jericho, Rich Ward, Frank Fontsere, Billy Gray and Randy Drake. Jericho has characterized the band by saying: "If Metallica and Journey had a bastard child, it would be Fozzy."^[2] As of July 2014, the band have released six studio albums and one live album. Their first two albums consist of original material and cover songs, while their third, fourth, fifth and sixth albums consist of all original material, except for Sin and Bones & Do You Wanna Start A War which include covers of Black Sabbath's Faries Wear Boots & ABBA's SOS.

History

Formation (1999–2000)

Fozzy started out as Fozzy Osbourne, a play on the name of the singer Ozzy Osbourne, and was a cover band assembled by Ward from whatever musicians he could find in a given week. In 1999, Jericho and Ward met in San Antonio, Texas after a wrestling show and Jericho was invited to play with the band. Their first show was held at the now-defunct club "The Hangar", in the downtown square of Marietta. Jericho sat in on a few sessions, but did not plan to play with them permanently. In 2000, unable to wrestle for four months due to a severe ankle injury, Jericho rejoined the band and became its front man under the persona of Moongoose McQueen, and the band went on tour. As part of the band's "gimmick", Jericho refused to acknowledge that Moongoose McQueen and Chris Jericho were the same person. When interviewed as Moongoose, he would stay in character the whole time and even feign ignorance of who Chris Jericho was. On the other side, Chris Jericho was a "huge fan" of Moongoose and Fozzy.

Fozzy logo wordmark

Self-titled debut and Happenstance (2000–2002)

The band shortened its name to Fozzy, and adopted the satirical back-story that they had signed with a record company to move to Japan to be huge rock stars, but the company went out of business, leaving them stranded for 20 years, while all their demos were snatched and recorded by other bands.^[3] Soon afterward, Fozzy produced their first album, self-titled and featuring mostly covers of bands such as Dio, Krokus, Twisted Sister, Iron Maiden, Mötley Crüe and Judas Priest.^[3] Also, at one time the band considered changing their name to Big City Knights.^[3]

Fozzy's second album, Happenstance, was produced in 2002, again with mostly covers of bands such as Black Sabbath, Scorpions, W.A.S.P. and Accept.

	"Enemy" by Fozzy (2005) 21 second sample from Fozzy's "Enemy".
Problems playing this file? See media help.

All That Remains (2003–2006)

After the Happenstance tour ended in 2003, the band dropped its back-story and Chris Jericho's McQueen persona.^[4] In January 2005, they released their third album, All That Remains,^[5] which had entirely original tracks, including the singles "Enemy" and "Daze of the Weak". All That Remains included guest appearances by musicians Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society, Ozzy Osbourne, Pride and Glory), Bone Crusher, Mark Tremonti (Creed, Alter Bridge), Myles Kennedy (Alter Bridge, Slash), Marty Friedman (Megadeth) and Butch Walker (Marvelous 3).^[6] The album sold over 100,000 copies. In 2005, "Enemy" was the theme song for WWE No Way Out and in 2006 for a promotional video for TNA Bound for Glory. In 2005, the band played the Download Festival at Donington Park, England.

Chasing the Grail (2009–2011)

Soon after the release of All That Remains, a fourth album were announced.

Chris Jericho live with Fozzy at the Kleine Klub (Saarbrücken)

On March 4, 2009, MetalUnderground.com reported that Fozzy had signed a worldwide record deal with Australian-based Riot! Entertainment to release their fourth album, Chasing the Grail.^[7] The album's lead single, "Martyr No More", was announced as an official theme song for the WWE Royal Rumble pay per view.^[8] The album was released in America on January 26, 2010, followed by Australia (February) and Europe (March).

On February 19, 2011, Jericho said during an interview with Active Rock radio station WBSX in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, that he had completed lyrics for a brand new Fozzy album and that Ward was beginning work on writing the music.^[9] The band hoped to have the new album released in February 2012.^[10] According to Fozzy's official Facebook page, the recordings were done on May 4, 2012. Fozzy released a brand new music video on June 7, which was shot at the Golden Gods Awards for the track "God Pounds His Nails".^[11] On July 10, Fozzy played the Sonisphere Festival at Knebworth, England.^[12] A special, 2-CD edition of Fozzy's live album, Remains Alive was released with Chasing the Grail on July 18.^[13] The band then announced a headlining tour of the United Kingdom for November 2011.^[14]

On September 9, Sean Delson announced his "retirement" from Fozzy as their bass guitar player to resume work with Agent Cooper. Fozzy announced Paul Di Leo, the bass guitarist for Adrenaline Mob, as his replacement.^[15]

Sin and Bones (2012–2013)

On January 18, 2012, it was announced that Fozzy had signed with Century Media Records,^[1] and plan to release a new album later in the summer. Jericho hinted the new album on his Twitter page saying 'New @FOZZYROCK album in August?!'. Jericho recently made a full-time return to the WWE on January 2,^[16] but despite this, Fozzy was announced to be a part of the Download Festival in the UK, in the summer.^[17] On July 17, Fozzy released the first single from their fifth studio album, Sin and Bones, titled "Sandpaper". The song features guest vocals by M. Shadows from Avenged Sevenfold and was also the Hell in a Cell theme song.^[18] Sin and Bones was released on August 14.^[19] Shortly after the album's release, Chris Jericho once again left the WWE with his final appearance being on SmackDown, on August 20,^[20][21] so that he could go on tour with the band.^[22] Fozzy played on the 2012 Uproar Festival tour, headlining the Jägermeister stage. After the Uproar Festival, Fozzy scheduled an international tour with stops in Europe and Australia. Fozzy made their return to the U.S. in 2013 touring as an opener for Saxon on the "Sacrifice and Sin" tour. One tour date (September 21, Joilet, Illinois) was rescheduled and became a Fozzy solo date on October 16.

Do You Wanna Start a War (2014–2015)

Fozzy performing at the El Paso Downtown Street Festival in 2014

During 2013 it was confirmed that Fozzy would begin working on a new record in 2014 and would be looking for a release date during the summer of 2014. The band entered the studio in late January. The first single, "Lights Go Out," was released April 29. Following the release of the new single, the band embarked on the "Lights Go Out" tour to promote their new album, playing festivals such as Carolina Rebellion, Rock on the Range and Download, where they performed on the main stage for the first time in the band's history. The second single, "One Crazed Anarchist," was released on May 26, 2014, and was given away to people that pre-ordered the album. The album, Do You Wanna Start a War, was released July 21, in the UK & Europe and July 22, in North America. The album also features guest appearances by Christie Cook and Steel Panther's Michael Starr. In September 2014, the band announced that Jeff Rouse would be their new bassist, as Paul Di Leo mutually parted ways with the band in May.^[23]

Upcoming seventh studio album (2016–present)

Chris Jericho confirmed that Fozzy hope to have their seventh studio album written by January 2016. This album will be the first to feature bassist Randy Drake, who joined the band in 2015 replacing Jeff Rouse. As of December 2015, the band have started working on the record and hope to have a release date sometime in the summer of 2016.

Members

Current line-up

• Chris Jericho – lead vocals, piano (1999–present)
• Rich Ward – guitars, backing vocals (1999–present)
• Frank Fontsere – drums, percussion (1999–2005, 2009–present)
• Billy Grey – guitars, backing vocals (2010–present)
• Randy Drake - bass guitar, backing vocals (2015–present)

Former Members

• Corey Lowery - bass guitar (2015, live only)
• Jeff Rouse - bass guitar, backing vocals (2014–2015)
• Paul Di Leo - bass guitar, backing vocals (2011–2014)
• Mike Martin – lead guitar (2004–2010)
• Sean Delson – bass (2004–2011)
• Eric Sanders – drums, percussion (2005–2009)
• Keith Watson - bass guitar (2002–2004)
• Ryan Mallam - rhythm guitar (1999–2004)
• Dan Dryden - bass guitar, backing vocals (1999–2002)

Discography

• Fozzy (2000)
• Happenstance (2002)
• All That Remains (2005)
• Reloaded (2008)
• Chasing the Grail (2010)
• Sin and Bones (2012)
• Do You Wanna Start a War (2014)
• TBA (2016)

Notes

References

• Keith, Scott (2004). Wrestling's One Ring Circus: The Death of the World Wrestling Federation. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-2619-X. 
• Schaefer, A.R. (2002). Y2J: Pro Wrestler Chris Jericho (Pro Wrestlers). Capstone High-Interest Books. ISBN 978-0-7368-1313-6. 
• Jericho, Chris; Fornatale, Peter Thomas (2007). A Lion's Tale: Around the World in Spandex. New York, New York: Grand Central Publishing. 432pp. ISBN 978-0-446-58006-9. 
• Jericho, Chris; Fornatale, Peter Thomas (2011). Undisputed: How to Become the World Champion in 1,372 Easy Steps. New York, New York: Grand Central Publishing. 448pp. ISBN 978-0-446-53815-2. 

External links

• Official website
• FOZZY on Twitter
• FOZZY on Facebook

cz:Fozzy