Fozzy
| Fozzy | |
|---|---|
 Fozzy, live at Rock City in Nottingham, UK, November 7, 2011. |
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | Fozzy Osbourne |
| Origin | Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. |
| Genres | Heavy metal, hard rock, alternative metal |
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Labels | Megaforce, Palm, Ash, Riot! Entertainment, Century Media |
| Associated acts | Stuck Mojo, Dangerous New Machine, Sick Speed, Adrenaline Mob, The Duke, Walking With Kings, Avenged Sevenfold |
| Website | www.fozzyrock.com |
| Members | Chris Jericho Rich Ward Paul Di Leo Billy Grey Frank Fontsere |
| Past members | See: List of Fozzy band members |
Fozzy is an American heavy metal band, formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1999. The lead singer of the band is professional wrestler Chris Jericho. He resides in Tampa, Florida, while the rest of the band live in Georgia. The band is currently signed to Century Media Records.[1] The band consists of Jericho, along with members of Stuck Mojo including Rich Ward and Frank Fontsere. Their additional members are Billy Grey (Dangerous New Machine, Sick Speed) and Paul Di Leo (Adrenaline Mob, Nena). Jericho has characterized the band by saying, "If Metallica and Journey had a bastard child, it would be Fozzy."[2]
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History [edit]
Formation and early days (1999–2000) [edit]
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 & Happenstance (2000–2002) [edit]
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.
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All That Remains (2003–2006) [edit]
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), Bonecrusher, 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.[citation needed] 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) [edit]
Soon after the release of All That Remains, plans for a fourth album were 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.[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) [edit]
On January 18, 2012, it was announced that Fozzy had signed with Century Media Records,[1] and plan to release a new album and DVD later in the summer. Not soon after, 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 were 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 is also the Hell in a Cell theme song.[18] The full Sin and Bones album was released on August 14th.[19] Shortly after the album's release, Chris Jericho once again left the WWE, with his final appearance being on Raw, on August 20,[20][21] so that he could go on tour with the band.[22] Fozzy is currently playing on the Uproar Festival tour on the Jagermeister stage. After the Uproar Festival, Fozzy is scheduled to go on an international tour with stops in Europe and Australia.
Members [edit]
- Current line-up
- Chris Jericho – lead vocals, piano (1999-present)
- Rich Ward – lead guitar, backing vocals (1999-present)
- Frank Fontsere – drums, percussion (1999–2005, 2009–present)
- Billy Grey – rhythm guitar (2010-present)
- Paul Di Leo - bass guitar (2011-present)
Discography [edit]
- Fozzy (2000)
- Happenstance (2002)
- All That Remains (2005)
- Chasing the Grail (2010)
- Sin and Bones (2012)
Notes [edit]
- ^ a b FOZZY Signs Worldwide Deal With Century Media Records
- ^ Chris Jericho Interview. Wrestling Voice Radio. YouTube. November 27, 2013. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
- ^ a b c Jericho 2011, p. 62
- ^ Jericho 2011, p. 270 - "So we dropped the covers, the storyline, the pseudonyms, and the wigs."
- ^ Jericho 2011, p. 273 - "So we released our third album, All That Remains, in January 2005 on Ash Records."
- ^ Jericho 2011, p. 271 - "Any band that had an album featuring the talents of Wylde, Friedman, Tremonti, and Kennedy had to have some credibility - and we did."
- ^ Fozzy Signs To Riot! Entertainment
- ^ Fozzy rocks iTunes
- ^ http://somethingtofear.blogspot.com/2011/02/breaking-chris-jericho-down.html
- ^ http://twitter.com/FOZZYROCK
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YihnTEpjJQw
- ^ http://uk.sonispherefestivals.com/line-up/fozzy/
- ^ FOZZY Frontman: Wrestling To Metal
- ^ Fozzy Announce UK Tour for November 2011, Final Tour Before Recording New Album
- ^ Fozzy Bassist, Sean Delson Leaves The Band
- ^ http://vids.wwe.com/14496/raw-chris-jericho-returns-to-wwe
- ^ http://www.downloadfestival.co.uk/news/article/22_more_bands_added_to_the_download_line_up
- ^ Fozzy: New Single "Sandpaper" Now Available; Band Releases 'Evolution of Fozzy' Video
- ^ Fozzy: New Album, SIN AND BONES, is Out Now!
- ^ How should Chris Jericho’s WWE career be remembered?
- ^ Dolph Ziggler def. Chris Jericho; Jericho's WWE contract is terminated
- ^ "Raw update - Jericho written off TV".
References [edit]
- 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 [edit]
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