CHRIS JERICHO Is 'One Of The Greatest Frontmen That's Ever Lived In Rock And Roll', Says FOZZY's RICH WARD

In a new interview with the On The Road To Rock podcast with Clint Switzer, FOZZY guitarist Rich Ward reflected on the success of the band he launched 25 years ago with superstar wrestler Chris Jericho. He said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We're really blessed. The FOZZY band started as a side thing for myself and Chris, and it just kind of evolved into this passion project, which then we take as seriously as you would anything else you do in your life. I mean, Chris is not going to do anything unless he feels like it's gonna be successful, because he's an apex predator, he's a great white shark. Everything he does is incredible. The fact that he's at his age and is still at the top in his industry, and he's got four New York Times bestsellers and one of the most popular podcasts in the world and he's one of the greatest frontmen that's ever lived in rock and roll, and I'll stand by that."

Ward also talked about the culture of "V.I.P." packages," which seems to be the only way for fans to meet the bands they admire these days. Some of these come at a really inflated price on top of the standard ticket costs and include anything from a signed item, a photo to watching soundchecks or a collectable lanyard.

"For a lot of fans, especially for old-school rock fans, there's this kind of weird thing about V.I.P.s, charging fans to meet the band, and I would feel very odd about that as well," Rich said. "But we actually do a separate concert. So it's kind of a mini-concert that we cap at a certain level, so it's almost like a house party concert. And we use all of that money — nobody in the band gets to touch the V.I.P. money. All that money goes into production and the operation of the business. So it doesn't enrich any of us. We set that aside as a way for us to buy new lights and to upgrade equipment and stuff. So we reinvest in the live experience that we give to the fans. And from the very beginning, we felt like that was important for us to do, is to figure out a way for us to reinvest in things that we need and also at the same time… It's really cool for us, 'cause we get to we get to meet people. And it's not just a grip-and-grin where you [go], 'Hey, nice to see you,' and it's a line. We actually get to play songs in front of 20 people every day at soundcheck and have conversations and hang out, and I think those are really cool."

FOZZY's latest standalone single, "Spotlight", was released last October via Madison Records/The Orchard. The track was helmed by FOZZY's longtime producer Johnny Andrews (THREE DAYS GRACE, ALL THAT REMAINS, HALESTORM) and sonically refined by mixer Jacob Hanson (VOLBEAT, AMARANTHE, ARCH ENEMY).

FOZZY's latest album, "Boombox", came out in May 2022 and featured "I Still Burn", which has surpassed three million views on YouTube. It also included the Top 10 singles "Nowhere To Run" and "Sane".

As previously reported, FOZZY will embark on a 25th-anniversary tour this fall. The trek will start October 3 at Madlife Studios in Woodstock, Georgia and run through October 21 in Cleveland, Ohio. Support on the tour will come from THE NOCTURNAL AFFAIR and CLOZURE.

In the spring of 2023, FOZZY spent time on the road with UGLY KID JOE as part of the latter band's first tour of the United States in 27 years.

In January 2022, FOZZY parted ways with longtime drummer Frank Fontsere and replaced him with Grant Brooks (THROUGH FIRE).

Fontsere was a founding member of FOZZY, having formed the group in 1999 with Jericho and Ward.

When FOZZY announced Fontsere's departure, the band said that he was "stepping down to focus on his family and other projects."

FOZZY is Jericho, Ward, Brooks, Billy Grey (guitar) and P.J. Farley (bass).