Richard Alfonso Martinez (born June 18, 1961), better known by the stage name Oz Fox, is the lead guitarist of the Christian glam metal band Stryper. Martinez' high school friends called him ''Oz'' in honor of

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 ...

due to his ability to emulate the vocals of Osbourne while playing

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 ...

covers in his pre-Stryper days. He was recruited by the Sweet brothers in 1983 to form what would become Stryper. As a founding member of the band, Fox recorded and toured with Stryper until the band's first break up in 1992 but has since rejoined the band.

Background

Fox was born on June 18, 1961 in

Whittier, California Whittier () is a city in Southern California in Los Angeles County, part of the Gateway Cities. The city had 87,306 residents as of the 2020 United States census, an increase of 1,975 from the 2010 census figure. Whittier was incorporated in ...

, to Richard Joseph Martinez and Jessie Maria Martinez. Having been influenced by artists from many styles of music including country, Fox's style can best be described as having been heavily influenced by the style pioneered by Eddie Van Halen; Fox would often warm up by playing

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene", Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of its lead gu ...

's "I'm The One" note for note before Stryper shows. He joined the LA guitarists trend of heavily incorporating tapping, sweeping, string skipping and wild tremolo use along with peers such as George Lynch,

Warren DeMartini Warren Justin DeMartini (born April 10, 1963) is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist for glam metal band Ratt, which achieved international stardom in the 1980s. Early life DeMartini was born on April 10, 1963, in Chicago, ...

Jake E. Lee Jake E. Lee (born Jakey Lou Williams, February 15, 1957) is an American musician best known as lead guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne between 1982 and 1987 and later as a member of the band Badlands with Ray Gillen. He formed the band Red Dragon Car ...

, Mick Mars, and

Tony Palacios Tony Palacios is the lead guitarist of the Christian hard rock band, Guardian. Palacios joined the band in 1986 and has remained with them since, releasing nine studio albums, including three in Spanish. In 1998, Palacios released his first ins ...

. Fox recorded half of the guitar solos with Stryper while additionally providing background vocals for the group. He later took up the main vocal duties for a period of four months in 1992 after founding member

Michael Sweet Michael Harrison Sweet (born July 4, 1963) is a singer and guitarist from Whittier, California; he is the co-founder, songwriter, guitarist and lead singer of the Christian metal band Stryper. He's also had a successful solo career, and briefly ...

decided to leave the band and pursue a solo career. With Fox on lead vocals, the trio did two short tours in Europe. After Stryper, Fox played in several projects, including his own band, SinDizzy, where he played rhythm guitar and sang lead vocals. SinDizzy, which released an album in 1998 titled ''He's Not Dead'', included former Stryper bassist

Tim Gaines Tim Gaines (born Timothy Hagelganz; December 15, 1962) is an American bass guitarist best-known as the long-time bassist for the Christian metal band Stryper until his departure in 2017. Biography Early life Gaines was born in Portland, Or ...

, drummer John Bocanegra and LA guitarist Bobby MacNeil. SinDizzy was a departure for Fox as it allowed him to explore his writing and playing from a much different perspective than in his prior work. SinDizzy would be put on hiatus however due to Fox and Gaines being asked to rejoin Stryper for their reunion in 2003 in support of the album ''7'' after the widespread acceptance and excitement generated by the first 'Stryper Expo'. Though Gaines would elect to leave the band, Fox, together with brothers Robert and Michael Sweet and newcomer bassist

Tracy Ferrie Tracy Ferrie is an American musician, who is the current bass player for the classic rock band Boston and was the former bass player of Christian metal band Stryper. Biography Ferrie grew up in Northern Indiana where he was encouraged by his h ...

and later

Perry Richardson Perry Richardson (born July 7, 1958) is an American bass guitarist who played in FireHouse until 2000 and is currently the bassist of Stryper. Biography Perry Richardson graduated Conway High School in Conway, South Carolina and went on ...

, is still recording and touring with the group. Fox's latest work is on Stryper's ''

God Damn Evil ''God Damn Evil'' is the seventeenth release and twelfth studio album by Christian metal band Stryper, produced by frontman Michael Sweet and released on April 20, 2018. Bass guitar was played by John O'Boyle as current bassist Perry Richardson c ...

'' album released in April 2018 and ''Even the Devil Believes'' from 2020.

Other activities

Fox has hosted "Rewind" on

JCTV JUCE TV is a defunct youth-oriented Christian television network and is a current YouTube channel owned and operated by the Trinity Broadcasting Network. The channel is aimed at teenagers and young adults between the ages of 13 and 30 years, a ...

. In 2006, he joined the band

Bloodgood Bloodgood was an American Christian metal band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1983. By 1988, Bloodgood represented one of the four largest Christian metal bands (excluding the mainstream success of Stryper) alongside Barren Cross, L ...

and has performed at several Christian rock festivals with them. Fox has helped to develop artists and bands in Southern California including recent HMMA's Award Winning Metal Band Fellguard from Murrieta and Fiasco, (formerly known as Understated) from Rancho Cucamonga. From 2006 to 2009, Fox gave private music lessons in Pasadena at a small music shop, Groovin on Music. Beginning in 2008, Fox joined the Las Vegas based classic rock band "Playground" featuring Frank Di Mino from the rock group

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inclu ...

. Playground has since hired other members, but he and DiMino now play in a tribute band called Vinyl Tattoo in Las Vegas. In 2014, he produced the first full-length album by Oklahoma Christian metal band, Chaotic Resemblance, ''Get the Hell Out''.

Personal life

Fox married

Annie Lobert Annie Lobert (born September 26, 1967) is an American former call girl and sex industry worker, who founded the international Christian ministry Hookers for Jesus. In 2010, she produced and starred in a three-part documentary on the organization ...

, a former sex-worker for 16 years turned

evangelical Christian Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

, in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

on June 5, 2009. The ceremony was broadcast live on the Internet. Lobert has a ministry to sex-workers still on the streets called " Hookers for Jesus". At approximately 12:30 am on August 12, 2018, Fox had a seizure while performing with a side band in Las Vegas and was taken to the hospital. A CT scan and

MRI Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves ...

discovered two masses: one by his ear and the other in the back of his head. In March of 2021, Fox entered the hospital and had brain surgery to treat the tumor near his ear to reduce the risk of hearing loss, impacted balance, possible loss of vision and spinal problems. However, following the surgery, Fox suffered hearing loss in his left ear.

Discography

Bloodgood

*2009: ''Live in Norway'' DVD,

(lead guitar & vocals) *2013: ''Dangerously Close'', Bloodgood (lead guitar & vocals)

Guest appearances

*1989: '' I 2 (EYE)'',

Michael W. Smith Michael Whitaker Smith (born October 7, 1957) is an American musician who has charted in both contemporary Christian and mainstream charts. His biggest success in mainstream music was in 1991 when " Place in This World" hit No. 6 on the '' ...

(vocals on "All You're Missin' Is a Heartache") *1989: '' First Watch'', Guardian (lead & vocals on "Hyperdrive") *1994: ''

Scarecrow Messiah ''Scarecrow Messiah'' is the sixth album by the band Bride, and is the follow-up to their commercial successful album '' Snakes in the Playground''. The album received a Dove Award for "Hard Music Album of The Year" at the 25th GMA Dove Awards T ...

'',

Bride A bride is a woman who is about to be married or who is newlywed. When marrying, the bride's future spouse, (if male) is usually referred to as the '' bridegroom'' or just ''groom''. In Western culture, a bride may be attended by a maid, bri ...

(guitar on "Doubt") *2000: ''

Truth Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth 2005 In everyday language, truth is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise correspond to it, such as belie ...

'',

(guitar on "The Ever After") *2020: '' Truth in Unity'', Chris Catena's Rock City Tribe (guitar on "My Angel")

Other works

*1998: ''SinDizzy'', SinDizzy (lead vocals & guitar)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Oz 1961 births American Christians American evangelicals Converts to evangelical Christianity from Roman Catholicism American heavy metal singers American heavy metal guitarists American male singers Living people Musicians from Whittier, California American performers of Christian music Singers from California Guitarists from California Stryper members 20th-century American guitarists American male guitarists 20th-century American male musicians