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Fozzy is an American heavy metal band formed in
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, Georgia, in 1999 by lead singer Chris Jericho/Irvine, lead guitarist
Rich Ward Richard Park Ward (born January 16, 1969), also known by his stage name The Duke, is an American guitarist best known as a founding member of Stuck Mojo and as lead guitarist of heavy metal band Fozzy. Early life Ward grew up listening to man ...
and drummer
Frank Fontsere Frank Fontsere (born September 2, 1967) is an American drummer from Marietta, Georgia. He is known mostly for his work in rap metal group Stuck Mojo (1996–2000) and heavy metal group Fozzy (1999–2005, 2009–2022). He has also been a member ...
, who are the longest-serving members of the band and have appeared on all band's releases, although Fontsere left in 2005, rejoined in 2009 & left again in 2022. The band's current lineup consists of Jericho, Ward, second guitarist Billy Grey, bassist P. J. Farley and drummer Grant Brooks. Jericho has characterized the band by saying, "If
Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
and
Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...
had a bastard child, it would be Fozzy." As of September 2022, the band has released eight studio albums and one live album. Their first two albums consist of primarily cover songs with some original material, while their albums since have made original material the primary focus.


History


Formation (1999–2000)

Fozzy started as Fozzy Osbourne, a play on the name of the singer
Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...
, 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 ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...
, 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, Georgia Marietta is a city in and the county seat of Cobb County, Georgia, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 60,972. The 2019 estimate was 60,867, making it one of Atlanta's largest suburbs. Marietta is the fourth largest ...
. Jericho sat in on a few sessions, but did not plan to play with them permanently. In 2000, Jericho rejoined the band and became its frontman 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'' 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. Soon afterward, Fozzy produced their first album, self-titled and featuring mostly covers of bands such as Dio, Krokus,
Twisted Sister Twisted Sister was an American heavy metal band originally from Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, and later based on Long Island, New York. Their best-known songs include " We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock", both of which were associated with m ...
,
Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...
,
Mötley Crüe Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1981. The group was founded by bassist Nikki Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee, lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil. Mötley Crüe has sold over 100 million albums ...
and
Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in th ...
. Also, at one time the band considered changing their name to Big City Knights. Fozzy's second album, '' Happenstance'', was produced in 2002, again with mostly covers of bands such as
Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...
, Scorpions, W.A.S.P. and
Accept Accept may refer to: * Acceptance, a person's assent to the reality of a situation etc. * Accept (band), a German heavy metal band ** ''Accept'' (Accept album), their debut album from 1979 * ''Accept'' (Chicken Shack album), 1970 * ACCEPT (or ...
.


''All That Remains'' (2003–2006)

After the Happenstance tour ended in 2003, the band dropped its back-story and Chris Jericho's McQueen persona. In January 2005, they released their third album, '' All That Remains'', which had entirely original tracks, including the singles " Enemy", "It's a Lie", "Born of Anger", and "The Test". ''All That Remains'' included guest appearances by musicians Zakk Wylde ( Black Label Society,
Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...
, Pride & Glory), Bone Crusher, Mark Tremonti (
Creed A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets. The ea ...
, Alter Bridge), Myles Kennedy (Alter Bridge,
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), Marty Friedman (
Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along wit ...
) and Butch Walker (
Marvelous 3 Marvelous 3 is an American rock band from Atlanta, Georgia. They are best known for their 1998 song "Freak of the Week." History Marvelous 3 was formed by lead singer/guitarist Butch Walker, bass guitarist Jayce Fincher, and drummer Doug Mitche ...
). The album sold over 100,000 copies. In 2005, "Enemy" was the theme song for ''
WWE No Way Out WWE No Way Out was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE, a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut. It was first held as the 20th In Your House PPV in February 1998 and was titled No Way Out of Texas. It ...
'' and in 2006 for a promotional video for ''
TNA Bound for Glory Bound for Glory (frequently abbreviated to BFG) is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced annually in October by the American Impact Wrestling promotion. The event was created in 2005 to serve as the company's flagship PPV eve ...
''. In 2005, the band played the
Download Festival Download Festival is a British-created rock festival created by Terrance Gough, held annually at the Donington Park motorsport circuit in Leicestershire, England (since 2003); in Paris, France (since 2016); at Parramatta Park, Sydney (since 201 ...
at
Donington Park Donington Park is a motorsport circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, still owned b ...
, England.


''Chasing the Grail'' (2009–2011)

Soon after the release of ''All That Remains'', a fourth album was announced. 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 ''Chasing the Grail'' is the fourth studio album from the heavy metal band Fozzy, released on January 26, 2010. It is their first album since the release of '' All That Remains'' five years prior, and is their first and only album as a four-pie ...
''. The album's lead single, "Martyr No More", was announced as an official theme song for the WWE Royal Rumble pay per view. 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 WBSX (97.9 FM) is a radio station licensed to the city of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, broadcasting to the Scranton/Wilkes Barre/Hazleton radio market. WBSX airs an active rock music format branded as "97-9 X" (pronounced as "Ninety-Seven Nine X"). ...
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. The band hoped to have the new album released in February 2012. 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". On July 10, Fozzy played the Sonisphere Festival at Knebworth, England. A special, two-CD edition of Fozzy's live album ''Remains Alive'' was released with Chasing the Grail on July 18. The band then announced a headlining tour of the ''
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
'' for November 2011. 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.


''Sin and Bones'' (2012–2013)

On January 18, 2010, it was announced that Fozzy had signed with Century Media Records, and planned to release a new album later in the year. Jericho hinted the new album on his
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
page, saying, 'New @FOZZYROCK album in August?!'. Jericho recently made a full-time return to the
WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...
on January 4, but despite this, Fozzy was announced to be a part of the
Download Festival Download Festival is a British-created rock festival created by Terrance Gough, held annually at the Donington Park motorsport circuit in Leicestershire, England (since 2003); in Paris, France (since 2016); at Parramatta Park, Sydney (since 201 ...
in the UK, in the summer. 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 Matthew Charles Sanders (born July 31, 1981), known by his stage name M. Shadows, is an American singer and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist and a founding member of heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold. In 2017, Shadows was voted third in th ...
from
Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold (abbreviated as A7X) is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Zacky Vengeance, ...
and was also the Hell in a Cell theme song. Sin and Bones was released on August 14. Shortly after the album's release, Chris Jericho once again left the WWE with his final appearance being on '' SmackDown'', on August 20, so that he could go on tour with the band. Fozzy played on the 2012
Uproar Festival The Uproar Festival, also called the Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival, was an annual hard rock and heavy metal tour inaugurated in 2010 by John Reese and sponsored by Rockstar Energy Drink. The tour was also created by John Oakes, Darryl E ...
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 The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
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)

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 "Lights Go Out" is a song by English electronic group Client from their third studio album, ''Heartland''. It was released in Germany in December 2006 on CD and digital download by Out of Line Music and SPV GmbH, and on 12" by Masterhit Recordi ...
", was released April 29. "Lights Go Out" reached number 29 on the ''Billboard'' Mainstream Rock Songs chart, becoming their first single to make it to the charts. 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 on July 21 in the UK and Europe and July 22 in North America. The album also features guest appearances by Christie Cook and
Steel Panther Steel Panther is an American comedic glam metal band from Los Angeles, California. They are known for their profane and humorous lyrics as well as their exaggerated onstage pastiche of the stereotypical glam metal lifestyle. History Metal Sh ...
'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.


''Judas'' (2016–2018)

Jericho confirmed that Fozzy hoped to have their seventh studio album written by January 2016. As of December 2015, the band had started working on the record and hoped to have a release date sometime in summer 2016. However, Jericho said in an interview that it was unlikely to be released in 2016 and was more likely to be released in 2017; this could be due to his return as a full-time WWE in-ring competitor. On March 18, 2017, Jericho announced that Paul Di Leo had rejoined Fozzy on his Instagram page, replacing Randy Drake as the bassist. On April 26, 2017, the band released a short snippet of their new single and music video titled "Judas", which premiered on ''
Loudwire ''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August of 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive ...
'' on May 2. "Judas" would later become one of the official theme songs for WWE's NXT TakeOver: Chicago, as well as Jericho's theme song in
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority shares ...
and All Elite Wrestling. "Judas" instantly became a hit for the band, receiving over 30 million views on YouTube, and reaching number one on various charts worldwide, including reaching number 5 on the ''Billboard'' Mainstream Rock Songs, their highest charting position for a single. The band embarked on a show tour in May–June 2017. Guitarist Rich Ward revealed in an interview with Blabbermouth that the album would be released in September 2017 and is also titled ''Judas''. The album release date was revealed on Jericho's official Instagram account: ''Judas'' was released on October 13, 2017. After extensive touring through 2017 - 2018, Paul Di Leo would again part ways and again be replaced with Randy Drake for the remainder of the 2018 Judas tour, including Fozzy playing at Jericho's Rock'N'Wrestling Rager at Sea. On October 22, 2017, Fozzy played at the Aftershock Festival in Sacramento, California.


''Boombox'' (2019–present)

On April 4, 2019, Fozzy announced that they were signing with
Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...
. Following this, they announced they had entered the studio to begin recording of their eighth studio album, later tentatively named as ''2020'' due for release in 2020. Chris Jericho debuted the album's first single, "Nowhere to Run" during a broadcast of ''The Rock of Jericho'' on August 23. " Nowhere to Run" was later released on August 29, 2019. However, in July 2020, Chris Jericho said the album's title had been scrapped, and the release was pushed to 2021. "The original idea was to call it '2020', until we realized that we're not gonna have this thing done till November/December, so it's not as contemporary anymore to put out an album called '2020' when it's 2021. Let's just leave it behind." The album, re-titled ''Boombox'', was eventually released on May 6, 2022.


Members

Current members * Chris Jericho/Chris Irvine – lead vocals *
Rich Ward Richard Park Ward (born January 16, 1969), also known by his stage name The Duke, is an American guitarist best known as a founding member of Stuck Mojo and as lead guitarist of heavy metal band Fozzy. Early life Ward grew up listening to man ...
– lead guitar, keyboards, programming, backing vocals *Billy Grey – rhythm guitar, backing vocals * P. J. Farley – bass, backing vocals *Grant Brooks – drums


Discography

;Studio albums * ''
Fozzy Fozzy is an American heavy metal band formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1999 by lead singer Chris Jericho/Irvine, lead guitarist Rich Ward and drummer Frank Fontsere, who are the longest-serving members of the band and have appeared on all band ...
'' (2000) * '' Happenstance'' (2002) * '' All That Remains'' (2005) * ''
Chasing the Grail ''Chasing the Grail'' is the fourth studio album from the heavy metal band Fozzy, released on January 26, 2010. It is their first album since the release of '' All That Remains'' five years prior, and is their first and only album as a four-pie ...
'' (2010) * '' Sin and Bones'' (2012) * ''
Do You Wanna Start a War ''Do You Wanna Start a War'' is the sixth studio album from the heavy metal band Fozzy. It was released on July 22, 2014 through Century Media Records. It is the band's first album to feature the same lineup as the previous one. Background In 2 ...
'' (2014) * '' Judas'' (2017) * ''Boombox'' (2022)


Awards

Loudwire Music Awards , - , 2012 , , Sandpaper (featuring
M. Shadows Matthew Charles Sanders (born July 31, 1981), known by his stage name M. Shadows, is an American singer and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist and a founding member of heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold. In 2017, Shadows was voted third in th ...
) , , Cage Match Hall of Fame , ,


Notes


References

* * * *


External links

* {{Authority control 1999 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Century Media Records artists Heavy metal musical groups from Georgia (U.S. state) Musical groups established in 1999 Musical quintets