Fozzy: A Rock Band With Heart and Soul With A Gold Record To Prove It

The evolution of Fozzy has been an incredible journey. The band has grown vastly through the years musically and with their stage presence. Last month the band celebrated a huge milestone when their album Judas received Gold Record status.

“It was a dream come true,” lead vocalist Chris Jericho said. “So, amazing and incredible. When you’re sitting there going over gold record plaque designs, it’s just off the charts.”

Chris added, “I can’t believe all these years of being a music band and hearing Ozzy talk about his gold discs. I definitely remember MTV going to Rudolf Schenker’s house from the Scorpions and he had a hundred golden platinum albums on the wall and I was said to myself, “man, someday,” and here we are, someday. And especially in 2022 when no one’s really buying records anymore.”

Another feather in Fozzy’s hat is that Fozzy kicked off their latest headline tour on March 31st. The band is ready to perform and give their fans what they have been missing, LIVE SHOWS! “I think this is going to be kinda the first official tour where we’re back and we don’t have to worry about anything,” Jericho said. “We’re all in this together to have a great time and just forget about the last 18 months and just move ahead as a rock n roll family.”

Being VIP at a Fozzy show has its perks. Fozzy has a reputation for having one of the most memorable VIP experiences you can have with a band. Being a Fozzy VIP, fans will truly get a special experience with the band. Some bands have very quick meet n greets, but Fozzy puts a lot of time and effort into their VIP experiences. 

“What we settled on (for our VIP) was doing a five song, like mini concert before the show,” Jericho said. “And that’s fun for me because we play some songs that we don’t play later on that night. So it’s cool.” Fans will also get a photo taken with the band and signed memorabilia.

Music has been a source of healing for the bands that create it, and inspiration for fans that hear it. Fozzy’s new single I Still Burn is undoubtedly one of those songs that is going to inspire their fans because it is so relatable. “I Still Burn is much more inspirational (than Judas), lead vocalist Chris Jericho said. “It’s about the fire that you have inside of you to achieve your goals and achieve your dreams. Every time they think I’m at the end, I get up again. And it’s about persevering and everybody can relate to that as well.”

The entire band are seasoned professionals that bring their own spice of talent to the table to create the recipe of success for Fozzy. Each member puts in their own special ingredient in making Fozzy such an incredible band. Lead vocalist Chris Jericho has such passion and intensity as their frontman, Rich Ward “The Duke” shreds guitar and is one of the most talented lead guitar players in the industry. Billy Grey rhythm guitar compliments their heart and spirited drummer Grant Brooks. And bassist PJ Farley is the glue that links Fozzy’s rhythmical and melodic elements together.

Their incredible fans are what pumps fuel into Fozzy to make their live shows so energetic. “When people start getting to know your songs, there’s nothing better than when people start singing along to your tunes, Jericho said. “There’s nothing better when you get a song on the radio that becomes a hit. And that you touch people with your music and that’s what it’s all about.”

On May 6th Fozzy will be releasing Boombox, their 8th studio album. This album has been done and ready for a long time and they have released three songs off it already. “It feels like it’s been forever since (the record has) been finished,” Jericho said. “But the thing is I Still Burn is the third single from the record. Nowhere to Run came out, then Sane came out, then I Still Burn. So the record’s kind of been alive.”

According to Jericho, two of the most challenging tracks on Boombox to record was I Still Burn and Army of One. “There’s a lot of just vocals only,” Jericho said. “And whenever you have vocals only, you really want to lay your heart on your sleeve and lay your soul bare on the track.”

Be sure to catch Fozzy on the road this spring on their “Save The World” tour. If you are a music fan that is looking for a band with a lot of heart, talent and energy, then Fozzy is hands down the band you need to add to your music library and must see live list. “We are excited for the tour,” Jericho said. “Every night we play we leave it all on stage and it’s a rock and roll party and you don’t want to miss out!”

NY and surrounding shows are: NYC April 11th at the Gramercy Theater, Stroudsburg, PA on April 15th and Poughkeepsie, NY on April 17th.

Fozzy Save the World Tour Dates:

April 11 – New York, NY @ Gramercy Theater

April 14 – Asbury Park, NJ @ Stone Pony

April 15 – Stroudsburg, PA @ Sherman Theater

April 16 – Wilmington, DE @ The Queen

April 17 – Poughkeepsie, NY @ The Chance

April 18 – Leesburg, VA @ Tally Ho Theater

April 28 – New Orleans, LA @ Southport Music Hall

April 29 – Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live

April 30 – San Antonio, TX @ The Rock Box

May 1 – Austin, TX @ Come And Take It Live

May 2 – Dallas, TX @ Amplified Live

May 5 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Whisky A Go-Go

May 6 – Garden Grove, CA @ Garden Grove Amphitheater

May 7 – Roseville, CA @ Goldfield Trading Post

May 8 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall

May 9 – Reno, NV @ Virginia Street Brewhouse

May 12 – Colorado Springs, CO @ Sunshine Studios

May 13 – Denver, CO @ Oriental Theater

May 14 – Wichita, KS @ Temple Live

May 15 – Ft. Smith, AR @ Temple Live

May 16 – Sauget, IL @ Pop’s

Fozzy Q&A with Chris Jericho:

315 Music:
What are you looking for or to the most on this leg of the tour?

Chris Jericho: 
I think just being back out again, you know, I mean, this is kinda the first tour that we’ve done when COVID, has kinda been put to bed and put to rest. We’ve been going out kinda on and off for the last year or so. And when we toured in September, October, it was just kind of towards the end and then we had Omicron come out. So that started off some stuff again, but I think now everybody’s ready to go out and rock and roll again. Everyone’s ready to go and have a good time. So, um, I think this is going to be kinda the first official tour where we’re back and we don’t have to worry about anything.

And we’re all kind of in this together to have a great time and just forget about the last 18 months and just move ahead as, as a rock n roll family.

315Music:
That sounds great. I totally agree! I’m looking forward to it too. What is your favorite part of the V I P meet and greets that the band does? I saw you do all those before all the shows.

CJ:
It’s fun for us cuz we’ve, we’ve had a, been working on our VIP program for, for over 10 years and we’ve tried a lot of different things from, going out to dinner with the fans and trying all these different things. And what we kinda settled on was doing a five song, like mini concert before the show. And that’s fun for me, because we play some songs that, that we don’t play later on that night. So it’s cool. Like when you can put your set list together, it’s awesome and it’s locked in and it’s great, but it’s also fun to play some songs that we don’t do every night and it’s fun for our VIPs to hear them.

So they’re getting something special and something extra along with seeing us play up close and personal, which is always cool too. So that’s really fun and it’s loose and it’s just a good time. It’s relaxing. It’s a great warmup for me, not only vocally, but also just, you know, just being on stage it’s it puts you in the vibe to have some fun tonight. And our VIP’s been very successful and the reputation of it being something special and being a great experience. It’s kind of preceded us. So it’s very, very fun.

315Music:
That’s great! They sound like they’re a lot of fun for everybody. What songs have you been putting on the VIP list? Or do you just keep that kind of secret before?

CJ:
I mean, we play some songs from some of our earlier records. Some songs like cover songs that we like to play. Uh, so we just kind of mess around and we change it up every night. So we have a list of about 10 to 12 that we choose from. And then we kinda see what people are into. Maybe there’s a song that we wanna work on a bit, for example, like our new, I still burn. We just played it for the first time in front of people this afternoon at our V I P. So it gives us a chance to kind of get some extra reps in there and gives people a chance to hear it.

You know, they’re gonna hear to get tonight, but you’re getting, and I’ll say, this is the first we played it live. But the second time we played it live in front of the crowd and people, you know, it’s kinda something cool if I went to, you know, a Metallica concert and they were playing a new song for the first time for me and 20 of my closest friends, I think that’d be something that I would never forget.

315Music:
Definitely. And speaking of the new single I still burn, I think that the lyrics are really inspiring and I just was wondering what you hope fans take away from that song? It sounds like a lot of it is about and your career and it could be about the other band members too?

CJ:
On the surface, it’s about me, but it’s about everybody. One of the reasons why I think I Still Burn has the potential to be even bigger than Judas, is that Judas is something that everybody could relate to. But it’s a negative thing. It’s about betrayal, betraying yourself. Everyone I’ve ever loved to push them all away. Whereas I still burn is much more inspirational. It’s about the fire that you have inside of you to achieve your goals and achieve your dreams every time they think I’m at the end, I get up again. And it’s about persevering and everybody can relate to that as well.

So yes, in a way, it’s my story, but my story is everybody’s story and it’s a much more positive spin than Judas was even though both are great songs. I think this one will really resonate with everybody and make you feel uplifted when you hear it, which is what music’s supposed to be.

315Music:
Yes, I really love it. I think it’s a great song. I’m hoping it goes far for you guys because it’s great. 

CJ:
Thank you. 

315Music:
Speaking of inspiration, you look great by the way, I was wondering how you keep fit on the road? I know how difficult it is on my own fitness journey. And I was curious how you juggle your fitness with your hectic schedule?

CJ:
Thank you! Honestly it’s just diet. It is hard to be on the road, but when you are committed to it, you just bring your own food and it’s not as hard as you might think. The program that I’m on. It’s very much easy to throw the food in a bag and then you have, you know, the real meal that you want to have that you order from a restaurant or you cook on the bus or whatever it might be. It’s like anything else, you know what I mean? If you really want to, you just commit to it, get rid of the excuses and just make it happen.

And I think one once, you know, once I kind of revealed the “new me,” *laughs* if that’s what you wanna say. The reaction that we got was so huge. It gives you motivation to continue. So, it’s been really great cuz you, you know, you can feel it on stage. You can feel it in the ring and it just kinda changes the whole dynamic and gives you different options of the stage wear that you can use, you know what I mean? I wanna wear a shirt, you know, that sort thing.

So it’s been really cool. It all fits into the whole package of what Chris is bringing when you pay money to come see me perform.

315Music:
Right. It really is inspiring to see you now and your transformation. I’m trying to do the same thing and get back on track. So I just really wanted to tell you that!

CJ:
Thank you.

315Music:
So boombox is coming out May 6th. Do you have any current plans for that day? Does the band have any rituals or anything they do on release day?

CJ:
You know, I think it’s just one of those things because this record has been done for such a long time. We we’ve been calling it Chinese plausacuracy because it feels like its been forever since it’s been finished. But the thing is I Still Burn is the third single from the record. You know, Nowhere to Run came out then Sane came out, then I Still Burn. So the record’s kind of been alive. So once the official record comes out, it’s not like there’s a real, um, you know, party or anything like that. Cause we’ll be on tour and every night is a party moment play. So it’ll just be officially out, which is always nervous, exciting, because you want people to enjoy the music and you hope they like it.

Cuz we spent so much time on putting it together. But so far the three songs we released have all gotten beyond off the charts great response. And I feel that the other nine that are included will get the same. So at this point in time, it’s like, let’s just get it out already because we’ve been living with so long on wanted to unleash it on the world and hopefully everybody else will feel the same way that we do.

315Music:
What was the hardest track to record on boombox and why? I know it’s been a while…

CJ:
I think I Still Burn and there’s another song called Army of One. That might be the next single after I Still Burn both of them are very emotional songs and they’re stripped down. I don’t know if you could hear on I Still Burn. There’s a lot of just vocals only. And whenever you have vocals only, you really want to lay your heart on your sleeve and put your heart on your sleeve and lay your soul bare on the track. And as singer, it’s like being a guitar player and have playing acoustic guitar.

There’s no excuses, there’s no way to hide it. You have to be, you know, all the emotion that you wanna muster up to put into those tracks. A song like Purifier, I can sing that in my sleep because it’s a driving, killer vocal performance whereas I Still Burn and, and Army of One are much more and tapping into your inner emotion. And it’s very taxing because you want to get it right.

It’s not easy to sing quiet. As a rock singer it’s much easier to scream it out and belt it out and show off your vocal prowess. But when you pare everything down and just sing with the breathiness that you need and the lower register that you need, it’s not easy to do. It’s very fun to listen to and amazing to listen to when it’s done, but actually being in the vocal track for three hours doing take after, take after take it’s very taxing.

315Music:
Right. So does that kind of reflect when you perform it live, do those emotions kind of come hit you when you’re singing as well?

CJ:
Yeah they do. Especially when people start getting to know your songs, there’s nothing better than when people start singing along to your tunes. There’s nothing better when you get a song on the radio that becomes a hit. And that you touch people with your music and that’s what it’s all about. So when you do that, it becomes emotional on stage and it brings up the, the goosebumps on your flesh goose goosebumps on your skin when, when you get it right. I mean, when we do Judas, it’s pretty much, I don’t have to do anything.

As a matter of fact, when I was, when we did a show in London, when I had some health issues and we couldn’t perform, we just did a karaoke version with the band playing and the audience singing it. And they sang every word of the whole song and they sang it loud. It was one of the coolest things we’ve ever experienced. It’s the power of music that brings ready together.

315Music:
That’s awesome! I wanted to ask about the Sane video. How many times did you have to go on that roller coaster? And who had the idea to throw the guitar off the, the ride?

CJ:
That was all Rich’s idea. So he had this idea and I was like, all right, dude, I’m not much of a roller coaster guy, but I’ll do it. You know what I mean? I’ll give it a try. And we did it six times and two of those there was technical difficulties, but once the train leaves the station, you can’t go back. One time the audio didn’t work and one time the camera didn’t work. And it was even harder just to be on that rollercoaster when we weren’t even filming. Cause you had to sit there.

It’s the fastest wooden rollercoaster in North America, which means it’s very jolting and it’s very, it’s very taxing on your body. And Billy our guitar player, threw up and Rich had to take a 45 minute break cause he was green.

Uh, it was not easy to do. You’re not your human body isn’t made to do that six times in a row. We finally finished the sixth one when I said, I hope we’ve got all we need, because I can’t do it again. I’m done. I had enough, I can’t do this anymore. It was a rough night. We were pretty wobbly and kind of nauseous, but you know, beauty is pain. Art is pain. So we got who we needed, but you know, you pay the price for something like that. But it turned out and listen, the reason why no rock band has ever done a video on a rollercoaster before is because it’s not easy to do. And we were the first, it looked great and it was a very creative, unique and very popular video.

Fozzy Sane Video:

315Music:
Yeah. I loved it! I thought it was really great. How did you feel when you got the news that Judas was certified gold? What was the first thing you felt?

CJ:
It was a dream come true. So, amazing and incredible. When you’re sitting there going over gold record plaque designs, it’s just off the charts. Like do you want to be looking this way. You want to be looking that way? Does the band name go on the top and it? It’s just like, I can’t believe this! And then you make a list. Who would you like to give a gold record to? And you’re like, I can’t believe all these years of being a music band and hearing Ozzy talk about his gold discs. I definitely really remember MTV going to Rudolf Schenker’s house from the Scorpions and he had a hundred golden platinum albums on the wall and I said to myself, “man, someday,” and here we are, someday. And especially in 2022 when no one’s really buying records anymore.

It goes by streams and a gold record is 500,000 units sold. And the equivalent of that is 75 million streams. So just the fact that Judas even came close to that shows you how popular the song is. So all across the board, very proud. And it puts you on a different level. I mean, there’s not many bands that have a gold record, you know, there really isn’t and that’s something where like, you gotta think about this, in all the years of listening to music and being a fan and playing in this band, you never really can believe it.

And so when it happened and it was real. And I didn’t know that you have to send the results to official record industry association accountant to add up the totals to clarify its legit. So it’s pretty killer.

315Music:
Awesome. What advice do you wish you could go back in time and tell yourself? It could be career related or personal.

CJ:
I mean, there’s some personal stuff that you would say that we don’t really wanna get into, but as far as career goes, the advice I would give myself is just follow your instincts because I haven’t really been wrong. Once you get confidence in yourself, you can pretty much make it happen. I wrote a book a few years ago called No is a Four Letter Word. And I really mean that. No is such a negative, almost a curse word. And once you put yes in your head, it’s amazing how much more you can accomplish. So, I think I would just give the advice to myself that your instincts are right.

Just follow them and don’t ever deviate from what you feel is right and go for it, which is basically what I did. So I would’ve just given myself a little bit of extra backup on that. I guess I’d say.

315Music:
What is your favorite song to perform live?

CJ:
Judas obviously people are just going nuts for for it. But personally we play a song called Sin and Bones. It’s the title track of our 4th or 5th record we recorded back in 2012. I love singing it, I love playing, I love the groove of it and it’s kind of like Iron Maiden’s Fear of the Dark, it wasn’t a single, it wasn’t a hit, but because we play it live so much it’s become kind of a live favorite. So that was set for me you, gotta be selfish a little bit sometimes especially now that we have six top thirty songs and five top twenties. So it starts getting harder and harder with songs you can pick to put in the set. I like having a couple of those types of songs which I think fans do as well because you know you want to put a couple in there that are “okay this is cool, this was for me” and that’s one of those songs that I really really enjoy. 

315Music:
What was it like touring in Europe compared to the states?

CJ:
We have been going to the UK for fifteen years. One thing I noticed about spans over the UK Is that they just like what they like and they always have always embraced Fozzy right out of the gate. I can remember the first show we ever played there in Nottingham, I walked on the stage and I thought I had walked in the wrong door. The place is packed and I was like what all these people here? Are they here for us? We had never played for that many people before. 

And that was our first ever show in the UK and it expanded from there. So we’ve always had a great fan base there and we always love playing there. We were just there in December and we had our first ever 100 percent SOLD OUT tour which was just a complete dream once again. We just struck a chord over there. With Scotland and England, the people in Ireland and Northern Ireland it’s just insane over there whatever we go. So I always look forward to it and I was really happy that we got to go again tin 2021 because it had been three or four years since we had gone over there. It was far over due. So anytime we can tour over there and play over there are always a lot of fans for us and we always see good growth. 

It’s completely the place for us to play all across the board. And the United States is catching up to that, which is also really cool to see. Because sometimes it’s like “are we just going to be in England only band?” And then you see some stuff we’ve been doing over the last three years over here in the states. It’s great to have those territories you can go to.

315Music:
Awesome! Ok I will wrap this up because I know you are busy tonight! Is there anything else you’d like to add?

CJ: 
We are excited for the tour. Every night we play we leave it all on stage and it’s a rock and roll party and you don’t want to miss out!

315Music:
Awesome! Thank you again for your time and I appreciate you taking the time to speak with us! 

CJ:
No problem, my pleasure! Bye.

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