FOZZY's Upcoming Single 'Spotlight' Is 'A Heavy Metal Dance Song'

FOZZY — the band featuring wrestling superstar Chris Jericho and STUCK MOJO mastermind Rich "The Duke" Ward — will release a new single, "Spotlight", on August 25. In a new interview with Diesel of Greenville, South Carolina's 93.3 Planet Rocks, Ward stated about the track (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's a fantastic song. Anyone who's known me for any length of time always knows I'm [a fan] of dance riffs. I mean, STUCK MOJO was just a dance band dressed up in evil, heavy metal riffs. I've always been a fan of both. And partially [that was because] I grew up in the late '70s, early '80s in the disco era. That was what music was popular; that was the most popular soundtrack, the most popular album when I was a kid. And I always loved dance music — Donna Summer and KOOL & THE GANG. These are people that put out albums that I was always in love with. And I loved Dick Clark, I loved America's Top 40, but I also loved 'Soul Train'. This is part of my DNA."

He continued: "So, this new song is a heavy metal dance song. It's just perfect. It's so suited for who I am as a guy and as a musician, as a songwriter. Jericho loves it. It's [producer] Johnny's [Andrews] kind of brainchild. So we're all dunking basketballs; [we're] so excited about it. 'Cause any time you have a new that everybody's on board…

"When you have a band and there's a lot of personalities and people involved in it, there's always somebody who's holding their nose, going, 'Okay, yeah. Okay. New song. Sure.' And they're trying their best to like it, but they don't really, and they're putting their best face forward on this," he added.

"Everyone loves the new song. It's a super-rad song."

On the day of "Spotlight"'s release, FOZZY will play a very special "Spotlight On London" live show at London, England's iconic O2 Forum Kentish Town. The concert will be FOZZY's biggest to date, and completing a killer lineup, they will be joined by special guests MASSIVE WAGONS and the KRIS BARRAS BAND. August 25 will also be the on-sale date for FOZZY's yet-to-be-announced February 2024 U.K. tour. The London show will take place on the same weekend as the AEW "All In" event at Wembley Stadium, with Jericho appearing in the biggest event in AEW's history alongside FOZZY's biggest ever show.

In a recent interview with Rock 100.5 The KATT's Cameron Buchholtz, Jericho was asked if fans won't have to wait another five years to hear the follow-up to FOZZY's 2022 album "Boombox". He responded: "I think that maybe the days of doing full-length records for us are done. We spent the better part of three years on ['Boombox'] and we had three Top 10 hits — 'Sane', 'Nowhere To Run' and 'I Still Burn' — and we played three other songs live: 'The Vulture Club', 'Purifier', 'Relax'. But the other six songs are kind of gone; they're, like, residing in the FOZZY dead-song burial ground. Because you can't really play them live, 'cause you can only do so much new material live, 'cause we have so many other songs we have to do. And they weren't released as singles, so you spend all the time on 'Army Of One' and 'Omen' and 'The Worst Is Yet To Come' — those are all great tunes — 'My Great Wall', 'Ugly [On The Inside]'; those could all be hits. So instead of releasing those types of songs on an album where they're not gonna be heard, we're gonna, I think, start releasing one song at a time. And instead of waiting two years for a new FOZZY record, there'll be a new song every four or five months. I think that's the way to do it. And that's what we're gonna start doing. We're actually working on our new song right now, which should be out hopefully in the fall."

Jericho previously floated the possibility of FOZZY focusing on singles in an interview in April with the ALT 105.1 radio station. He said at the time: "I think [what] we're gonna try to do [going forward] is just release a single every three or four months and keep the product always there and not waste the songs. 'Cause that's what you're doing when you put out a great record. You spend so much time on every one of these songs, meticulously creating them and they're your children, and then they just never really… unless you buy the record and listen to the record. There's only so many songs you can play live from a new album when you have as many albums as we do. So that might be something we will look [to do] in the future — just doing one song at a time… And then every song you can release as a single and give it its chance to go where it's gonna go."

Jericho added: "I'm from the generation where you would go… When the new IRON MAIDEN [album] is coming out, you'd go down and take the bus every Saturday: 'Is it out yet? No.' And then finally you walk through and you hear the music and you see the wall of MAIDEN records. That was such a great moment in a kid's life. But things have changed. No kid knows what a record store is now. You just go on Spotify and listen to the songs you wanna hear. So you've gotta roll with the times. Obviously, putting out a new record is a piece of art, but I think song by song you can do the same. Plus you get a different cover for every one. So I think it just adds to more of a marketing plan. I think it's just better for the music itself as well."

The official music video for "I Still Burn" recently eclipsed 2.5 million views.

This past spring, 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 Rich Ward (guitar).

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 (guitars) and P.J. Farley (bass).