FOZZY's CHRIS JERICHO: 'I Think Reinvention Is Important At Any Stage Of Your Career'

In a new interview with Soundsphere's Dom Smith, FOZZY frontman and wrestling superstar Chris Jericho was asked how he and his bandmates plan on "reinventing" themselves in 2026. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think reinvention is important at any stage of your career, 'cause you want to keep people excited and motivated to what you're doing. So, if you think about THE [ROLLING] STONES, their last record, 'Hackney Diamonds', that came out a couple of years ago was brilliant. It was incredible. And it's, like, 'Wow.' What would be the motivation for THE STONES to release a great new record? Well, because you're an artist, and this is what we do. So I think the reinvention, evolving, keeping things fresh and exciting, that's something that I believe in wholeheartedly. There's nothing wrong with having tinges of nostalgia in things that you do, but you still wanna create new things as well, so you're not just a 'nostalgia act', shall we say."

Jericho also talked about FOZZY's approach to coming up with a setlist for the band's live shows and the importance of treating the fans to new songs while always performing the radio hits. He said: "You wanna play your greatest hits. You have to play your greatest hits. But you're always searching for the next hit. You mentioned [FOZZY's] 'Crazy Train' cover [of the Ozzy Osbourne classic]. We [recorded] that a few years ago, and then when Ozzy passed away [in 2025], we thought, 'Let's release it,' and we ended up with a Top 10 hit with it. So it was never designed to be that; it just became that. So now it's, okay. Then now we've got 'Crazy Train'. We can play that in our set. And there's a reason to play it because we had a hit with it as well. Obviously, it's a tremendous song that Ozzy and Randy [Rhoads] and Bob Daisley wrote, but it's now become part of the FOZZY world. So, you wanna continue to build upon that, and then still, of course, we're gonna bust out 'Judas' and we're gonna bust out 'Painless' and all the songs that people wanna hear. But if that's all we played, then suddenly you've hit the ceiling. So, yes, we will play 'Judas' and 'Painless', but we're also gonna play [a more recent single like] 'Fall In Line', we'll also play 'Crazy Train'. We almost played a brand new song that no one's even ever heard yet on this tour, but it wasn't quite ready to come out of the oven yet. But when it's ready, we'll play those songs as well. So you always wanna continue to put new material into your set and then still bust out the classics when you can. That keeps everybody happy."

Asked if he gets annoyed when he sees other bands "just rehash the same stuff" during their live shows and play nothing but the old hits, Chris said: "I don't get annoyed if people do that. Once again, everyone's got their own way of doing things. But I just know for us, and for me, I always wanna try and keep it as fresh as possible. And look, when you go see IRON MAIDEN or you go see METALLICA or AC/DC or THE STONES, they're playing new material, and a lot of new material. And you should do that. I mean, there's some tours that IRON MAIDEN just plays all new material, and it drives people crazy that are wanting to hear just the hits, but [the guys in the band] have to keep it fresh. And I like that attitude and that idea and I wholeheartedly embrace it, where you wanna keep it… It's fun to play new stuff; it really is. It's kind of the lifeblood of what an artist does is, is create new things and do new things. So, if someone just wants to go play nothing but the hits from 10 years ago, God bless you. Go for it. I would rather always hear new material and new songs, even when others don't want that."

Earlier this month, FOZZY announced the "Twisted Faith Tour 2026", set to take place around the band's appearances at the Welcome To Rockville and Sonic Temple festivals. Along for the ride for FOZZY's headlining shows will be FLAW, SPINESHANK and WHO ON EARTH (on select dates). Tickets and VIP information for the shows are available at FozzyRock.com.

Last September FOZZY surprise released its cover version of the OZZY OSBOURNE classic "Crazy Train". The track arrived two months after FOZZY released the official Lawrence Hinson-directed music video for the group's latest single, "Fall In Line". The clip was filmed at HM Studios in Las Vegas, Nevada, based on a video concept by Hinson and Mark Willis.

"Fall In Line" was released in April 2025 via Madison Records.

The 2025 leg of FOZZY's 25th-anniversary tour, dubbed "2025th Anniversary Tour", kicked off on April 17, 2025 in Springfield, Missouri and concluded on May 12, 2025 in Wyandotte, Michigan.

The first U.S. leg of FOZZY's 25th-anniversary tour ran through October 21, 2024 in Cleveland, Ohio.

"Fall In Line" was the follow-up to FOZZY's previous standalone single, "Spotlight", which was released in October 2023 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).

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

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).