CHRIS JERICHO Calls SEBASTIAN BACH 'The Perfect Rock Star': 'He Checks Every Box In Everything'

On the 27th episode of "The Album Review Crew" of the "Shout It Out Loudcast", FOZZY frontman and wrestling superstar Chris Jericho joined hosts Tom, Zeus and Sonny to review the second album from SKID ROW, 1991's "Slave To The Grind". You can now listen to the discussion below.

Speaking about SKID ROW's untimely 1996 split with singer Sebastian Bach, Jericho said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Had there not been a complete sea change and shift in musical styles, and had Sebastian and the guys not completely broken up forever, they could have been a GUNS N' ROSES level, a JUDAS PRIEST level. Not an IRON MAIDEN level — not a GUNS N' ROSES either — but they could have been that second tier of main-event-level bands. Because, two reasons — one, dudes like us like the music; heavier guys like PANTERA like the music; and here's the most important thing. You know what I'm gonna say. The chicks love the music and they love Sebastian Bach, who, at the time… I used to say, if you could into a laboratory and you were a mad scientist and create the perfect rock star, Sebastian Bach would be the perfect rock star — all cross the board; he checks every box in everything. And so I think that's another reason why SKID ROW was able to bridge the gap. It could have even gone farther because the girls really enjoyed the band as well."

He continued: "The first [SKID ROW] album, pictures aside — you look at the first GUNS N' ROSES album pictures; there was a lot of hairspray and all that sort of stuff — but they had an East Coast GUNS N' ROSES vibe, where even though Sebastian Bach was pretty, he was tall, we know he was off his rocker because we heard the stories. Other guys looked pretty nutty. Rachel [Bolan, bass] was very punk rock. They weren't pretty guys. Snake [guitarist Dave Sabo] is not a good-looking guy. And if he was on the show right now, he'd be laughing, saying, 'I'm the ugliest guy ever.' Best guy in the world, by the way — Snake and Rachel are just amazing guys… But they never tried to be that way; they weren't trying to shove it into the bag. They knew what they looked like, and they knew it was cool, 'cause they did look cool. But they didn't look pretty. But that worked to their advantage, much like GUNS N' ROSES as well."

Less than two years ago, Bach blasted Jericho over allegations that the FOZZY frontman uses pre-recorded vocal tracks during live performances.

Bach initially accused Jericho of "miming to a tape" at FOZZY concerts in a social media post in July 2020. In response, the wrestler-turned-rocker insisted that he had "never mimed anything ever" and challenged Bach to a "singoff" with "no effects, no tuning, no bullshit", saying "Bas is a great singer...but I'm better".

In the months that ensued, Bach brought up Jericho's alleged lip syncing on several occasions, most recently in January 2021 in an interview with The Aquarian Weekly. Asked specifically about his feud with Chris, Sebastian said: "I have an open mind about everyone. If I read on Blabbermouth.com [sic] that some band says, 'We're the future of rock 'n' roll and we are the next thing after THE ROLLING STONES,' I think, this must be incredible! What have I been missing out on? So, I checked out one video during which the singer was 100% miming to a tape on stage at The Rockpile in Toronto. I thought to myself, 'That's weird, that's not the next ROLLING STONES.' So, I watch another video where he was opening up for NICKELBACK in an arena and, again, he's miming to a tape. You can go watch it for yourself. Then someone said, 'Here's a clip of him singing live. Legit, bro.' And it's him miming to a tape again. It's crazy obvious. It is not my opinion, it's fact. It is not me starting a fight. But don't tell me what singing live is, 'cause I have never used tape. I don't even know how to do that."

Bach also addressed the fact that Jericho accused him of having a less-than-original stage name after Sebastian slammed Jericho for copying the name of a SKID ROW tour for FOZZY.

"I switched a couple of letters of my legal last name [Bierk]. Who's Mongoose McQueen?" Bach asked, referring to Jericho's original FOZZY stage name. "What kind of a stage name is that?

"How about this: professional wrestling sucks," he added. "Everyone wishes they were a rock star. It hilarious. Evidently, all you have to do is [record] a tape, go on stage, and jump around. You can jump off the drum riser and do jumping jacks. It doesn't matter if you are miming to tape."

Jericho's most public reaction to Bach's criticism came in a January 2021 tweet. At the time, he wrote: "I've been told that @sebastianbach continues to go out of his way to bury me. My response is this...be my guest! You are entitled to ur opinion & it doesn't affect me either way. I still dig ur work on the first 3 @OfficialSkidRow albums & look forward to ur new record."

When Bach first went public with his Jericho accusation, FOZZY guitarist Rich Ward called Sebastian "universally disliked" and said that seeing Bach "publicly go after the only guy that I have ever witness utter a nice word about him is sad."

Sebastian, who has been outspoken about rock bands using pre-recorded backing tracks during live shows, later tried to explain his outburst, writing: "I'm not trying to beat anybody at anything. I'm actually trying to say hey Chris maybe you're right maybe I'll stop singing live and prance around while the tape is playing just like you do Chris. I'm tired of trying so hard it's like beating my head against the wall."

After a self-proclaimed Bach fan called Sebastian "an asshat" on Twitter for firing "the first shots" in his war of words with Jericho, Bach came back with: "Hey man f*** you. I have spent my life learning how to sing live on stage. When someone comes along and mimes to a tape it sucks for all of the rest of us that don't. You want to go see a wrestling match good. Don't call it rock and roll".