Fozzy is an American heavy metal

Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

/hard rock

Hard rock

Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...

 band, formed in Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...

 in 1999. Lead singer Chris Jericho

Chris Jericho

Christopher Keith Irvine , better known by his ring name Chris Jericho, is an inactive Canadian-American professional wrestler, musician, songwriter, radio personality, television host, actor, author, and dancer...

 (real name Chris Irvine), who is also a professional wrestler, resides in Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, while the rest of the band lives in Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

. The band is currently signed to Riot! Entertainment

Riot Entertainment

Riot! Entertainment is an independent record label, music distribution service and tour promoter based in Wollongong, Australia. According to their website, Riot is Australia's biggest heavy metal music distribution company. The company serves as the Australian distributor for Nuclear Blast, Metal...

. The band consists of Jericho, along with members of Stuck Mojo

Stuck Mojo

Stuck Mojo is an American heavy metal band from Atlanta, Georgia. Formed in 1989 by guitarist Rich Ward, Stuck Mojo is considered to be one of the pioneers of rap metal. Touring alongside bands such as Machine Head and Slapshot. Stuck Mojo's most successful album, Rising, peaked at #48 on the...

 including Rich Ward

Rich Ward

Richard Park "Rich" Ward is an American guitarist, also known by his stage name, "The Duke". Ward is best known as a founding member of Stuck Mojo, a popular and influential underground rap-metal band of the 1990s, but he is also known as lead guitarist of heavy metal band Fozzy.-Early life:Ward...

 and Frank Fontsere

Frank Fontsere

Frank Fontsere is a professional drummer from Marietta, Georgia, United States, known mostly for his work in rap/metal group Stuck Mojo ...

, Paul DiLeo (Adrenaline Mob

Adrenaline Mob

Adrenaline Mob is a heavy metal supergroup featuring Mike Portnoy , Russell Allen , Mike Orlando, Paul DiLeo , and Rich Ward . Adrenaline Mob was formed in early 2011 and performed their first live performance on June 24, 2011 at the Hiro Ballroom in New York City...

) and Billy Grey (Dangerous New Machine/formerly of Sick Speed).

Fozzy Osbourne (1999–2000)

Fozzy started out as Fozzy Osbourne, a play on the name of the singer Ozzy Osbourne

Ozzy Osbourne

John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...

, and was a cover band

Cover band

A cover band , is a band that plays mostly or exclusively cover songs. New or unknown bands often find the cover band format marketable for smaller gigs, and these bands may be known as a wedding band, party band and function band. A band whose covers consist mainly of songs that were chart hits is...

 assembled by Ward from whatever musicians he could find on a given week. In 1999, Chris Jericho and Ward met in San Antonio 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, Ga. 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.

Fozzy (2000-present)

The band shortened its name to Fozzy, and adopted the satirical back-story that they had signed a 20-year contract to stay in Japan and be huge rock stars, only to discover on their return to America that many famous artists had ripped off their songs.

Soon afterward, Fozzy produced their first album, self-titled and featuring mostly covers of bands such as Dio

Dio (band)

Dio was an American heavy metal band from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Formed in 1982 and led by vocalist Ronnie James Dio, after he left Black Sabbath with intentions to form a new band with fellow former Black Sabbath member, drummer Vinny Appice. Naming the band Dio made sense from a commercial...

, Krokus

Krokus (band)

Krokus is a hard rock/heavy metal band from Switzerland. They enjoyed moderate success in North America during the 1980s.Krokus was founded in Solothurn in 1974 by bassist Chris von Rohr and guitarist Tommy Kiefer...

, Twisted Sister

Twisted Sister

Twisted Sister is an American heavy metal band from Long Island. Musically, the band implements elements of traditional heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, along with a style that is similar to early glam metal bands...

, Iron Maiden

Iron Maiden

Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in east London, formed in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the band's discography has grown to include a total of thirty-six albums: fifteen studio albums; eleven live albums; four EPs; and six...

, Mötley Crüe

Mötley Crüe

Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1981. The group was founded by bass guitarist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, who were later joined by lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil...

 and Judas Priest

Judas Priest

Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band from Birmingham, England, formed in 1969. The current line-up consists of lead vocalist Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis. The band has gone through several drummers over the years,...

. Also, at one time the band considered changing their name to Big City Knights.

Fozzy's second album, Happenstance

Happenstance (Fozzy album)

Happenstance is the second album by heavy metal band Fozzy. For the album the band continue with their spoof that they had spent the last 20 years in Japan being megastars and once they returned to America, they realized that many famous artists have ripped off their songs...

, was produced in 2002, again featuring mostly covers of bands such as Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...

, Scorpions

Scorpions (band)

Scorpions are a heavy metal/hard rock band from Hannover, Germany, formed in 1965 by guitarist Rudolf Schenker, who is the band's only constant member. They are known for their 1980s rock anthem "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and many singles, such as "No One Like You", "Send Me an Angel", "Still...

, W.A.S.P.

W.A.S.P.

W.A.S.P. is an American heavy metal band formed in 1982. They emerged from the same Los Angeles scene that spawned Mötley Crüe, Ratt, Quiet Riot and others. The band's popularity peaked in the 1980s, yet they continue to record and tour, making them one of the most enduring of the West Coast heavy...

 and Accept

Accept

Accept is a German heavy metal band from the town of Solingen, originally assembled by former vocalist Udo Dirkschneider, guitarist Wolf Hoffmann and bassist Peter Baltes. Their beginnings can be traced back to the late 1960s...

.

In 2004, the band dropped its back-story and Chris Jericho's McQueen persona. A year later, they produced their third album, All That Remains

All That Remains (album)

- Singles :* "Enemy"* "It's a Lie" * "Born of Anger" * "The Test"- Personnel :* Chris Jericho — lead vocals* Rich Ward — lead guitar, Backing Vocals* Mike Martin — rhythm guitar* Sean Delson — bass guitar...

, which featured entirely original tracks, including singles "Enemy" and "Daze of the Weak". All That Remains featured guest appearances by musicians such as Zakk Wylde

Zakk Wylde

Zachary Phillip Wylde , best known by the stage name Zakk Wylde, is an American musician, songwriter, and occasional actor who is best known as the former guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and founder of the heavy metal band Black Label Society. He was the lead guitarist and vocalist in Pride & Glory,...

 (Black Label Society

Black Label Society

Black Label Society is a heavy metal band formed by Zakk Wylde, with nine studio albums, one live album, two compilation albums, one EP, and three video albums released since formation of the band.-Formation and Sonic Brew :...

, Ozzy Osbourne, Pride and Glory

Pride and Glory (band)

Pride and Glory was a side project for Black Label Society guitarist Zakk Wylde. This was Zakk's first self-fronted project, then he released his solo-album Book of Shadows in 1996...

), Bonecrusher, Mark Tremonti

Mark Tremonti

Mark Thomas Tremonti is an American musician and songwriter, best known as the lead guitarist of the American rock bands Creed and Alter Bridge. He is a founding member of both bands...

 (Creed

Creed (band)

Creed is an American rock band formed in 1995 in Tallahassee, Florida. Becoming popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the band has released three consecutive multi-platinum albums, one of which has been certified diamond, and has sold over 28 million records in the United States, with an...

, Alter Bridge

Alter Bridge

Alter Bridge is an American rock band that was formed in 2004 in Orlando, Florida by lead guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall, and drummer Scott Phillips, who are all also members of Creed. Lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Myles Kennedy, formerly of The Mayfield Four and the frontman...

), Myles Kennedy

Myles Kennedy

Myles Richard Kennedy is an American musician and singer-songwriter best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Alter Bridge, and as the lead vocalist in Slash's current solo project...

 (Alter Bridge, Slash

Slash (musician)

Saul Hudson , known by his stage name Slash, is a British-American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During his later years with Guns N'...

), and Butch Walker

Butch Walker

Butch Walker is an American recording artist, songwriter, and record producer. He was the lead guitarist for the metal band SouthGang from the late 80s to early 90s as well as the lead vocalist and guitarist for rock band Marvelous 3 from 1997 until 2001.-Career:Walker grew up in Cartersville,...

 (Marvelous 3

Marvelous 3

Marvelous 3 was an Atlanta-based rock band.-History:Marvelous 3 was formed by lead singer/guitarist Butch Walker, bass guitarist Jayce Fincher, and drummer Doug Mitchell Marvelous 3 was an Atlanta-based rock band.-History:Marvelous 3 was formed by lead singer/guitarist Butch Walker, bass guitarist...

). The album went on to sell over 100,000 copies. In 2005, "Enemy" was the theme song for WWE No Way Out

No Way Out (2005)

No Way Out was the seventh annual No Way Out pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It took place on February 20, 2005 from the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania....

and then in 2006 for a promo video for TNA Bound for Glory. Also in 2005 the band played the Download Festival

Download Festival

The Download Festival is a three day rock music festival held annually at Donington Park, England . It usually takes place in June...

 at Donington Park

Donington Park

Donington Park is a motorsport circuit near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England.Originally part of the Donington Hall estate, it was created as a racing circuit during the pre-war period when the German Silver Arrows were battling for the European Championship...

, England.

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

Chasing the Grail

Chasing the Grail is the fourth album from the Heavy Metal band Fozzy. It is their first album since the release of All That Remains and was released on January 26, 2010.- Background :...

. The album's lead single "Martyr No More" was announced as an official theme song for 2010 WWE Royal Rumble

Royal Rumble (2010)

Royal Rumble was the twenty-third annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It took place on January 31, 2010 at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia and featured talent from the Raw, SmackDown and ECW brands...

. The album was released in America in January 2010, followed by Australia (February) and Europe (March).

On February 19, 2011, Jericho said during an interview with Active Rock radio station WBSX

WBSX

WBSX is a FM radio station licensed to the city of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, broadcasting to the Scranton/Wilkes Barre/Hazleton radio market on 97.9 MHz. WBSX airs an active rock music format branded as "97-9 X" .-History:...

 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

Wilkes-Barre is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, the county seat of Luzerne County. It is at the center of the Wyoming Valley area and is one of the principal cities in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area, which had a population of 563,631 as of the 2010 Census...

 that he had completed lyrics for a brand new Fozzy album and that Ward was beginning work on writing music. The band has stated that they hope to have the new album out in February 2012.
Fozzy's live album "Remains Alive" was released on May 3 through Amazon.com. Fozzy released a brand new music video on June 7, 2011 which was shot at the Golden Gods Awards for the track 'God Pounds His Nails'. In July 2011, Fozzy played the Sonisphere Festival at Knebworth, England. The band recently announced a headlining tour of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

for November, 2011.

On September 9, 2011, Sean Delson announced his "retirement" from Fozzy as their bass player to resume work with Agent Cooper. Fozzy have since announced Paul Di Leo, the bassist for Adrenaline Mob, as the man who will fill his shoes.

Discography

Studio albums

• Fozzy
  Fozzy (album)
  Fozzy is the self-titled debut album of heavy metal band, Fozzy. The album was released on October 24, 2000. The album was released by Palm Pictures and Megaforce Records.-Album concept:...
  
  (2000)
• Happenstance
  Happenstance (Fozzy album)
  Happenstance is the second album by heavy metal band Fozzy. For the album the band continue with their spoof that they had spent the last 20 years in Japan being megastars and once they returned to America, they realized that many famous artists have ripped off their songs...
  
  (2002)
• All That Remains
  All That Remains (album)
  - Singles :* "Enemy"* "It's a Lie" * "Born of Anger" * "The Test"- Personnel :* Chris Jericho — lead vocals* Rich Ward — lead guitar, Backing Vocals* Mike Martin — rhythm guitar* Sean Delson — bass guitar...
  
  (2005)
• Chasing the Grail
  Chasing the Grail
  Chasing the Grail is the fourth album from the Heavy Metal band Fozzy. It is their first album since the release of All That Remains and was released on January 26, 2010.- Background :...
  
  (2010)

Live albums

• Remains Alive (2005)

Demo albums

• Unreleased Rarities and Demos
  Unreleased Rarities and Demos
  Unreleased Rarities and Demos is an album from the Heavy Metal band Fozzy containing rare and demo tracks. This was self released by Rich Ward and the album was signed by him and contains a rare Fozzy pick.-Track listing:...
  
  (2007)

Singles

• "Eat the Rich" (2000)
• "Balls to the Wall" (2002)
• "With the Fire" (2002)
• "To Kill a Stranger" (2002)
• "Enemy" (2005)
• "It's a Lie" (2006)
• "Metal Gods" (2007)
• "Martyr No More" (2009)
• "Let The Madness Begin" (2009)
• "Broken Soul" (2010)

Band members

• Chris Jericho
  Chris Jericho
  Christopher Keith Irvine , better known by his ring name Chris Jericho, is an inactive Canadian-American professional wrestler, musician, songwriter, radio personality, television host, actor, author, and dancer...
  
   – vocals (since 1999)
• Rich Ward
  Rich Ward
  Richard Park "Rich" Ward is an American guitarist, also known by his stage name, "The Duke". Ward is best known as a founding member of Stuck Mojo, a popular and influential underground rap-metal band of the 1990s, but he is also known as lead guitarist of heavy metal band Fozzy.-Early life:Ward...
  
   – lead guitar (since 1999)
• Billy Grey – guitar (since 2010)
• Frank Fontsere
  Frank Fontsere
  Frank Fontsere is a professional drummer from Marietta, Georgia, United States, known mostly for his work in rap/metal group Stuck Mojo ...
  
   – drums (1999–2005, 2009 – )
• Paul Di Leo - bass guitar (2011)

Former members

• Dan Dryden – bass (1999–2002)
• Keith Watson – bass (2002–2004)
• Mike Schneider – guitar (2001–2002)
• Andy Sneap
  Andy Sneap
  Andy "Undie" Sneap is an English record producer, recording engineer, mixer, guitarist, and songwriter. He is best known for producing and mixing many acclaimed heavy metal albums.-Musician:...
  
  – guitar (2001–2002)
• Ryan Mallam – guitar (1999–2004)
• Mike Martin – guitar (2004–2010)
• Eric Sanders – drums (2005–2009)
• Sean Delson – bass (2004–2011)