Biography
Fozzy emerged from San Antonio, Texas, in 1999 as a hard-hitting yet approachable fusion of hard rock and heavy metal, fronted by WWE wrestler Chris Jericho, who had previously competed under the WWF banner. The band’s first two releases consisted largely of cover material, yet the 2005 arrival of All That Remains marked their decisive turn toward original songs. Jericho, alongside core members guitarist Rich Ward and drummer Frank Fontsere, has since guided the group through several Billboard-charting albums—Sin and Bones in 2012, Judas in 2017, and Boombox in 2022—that merge sleek contemporary metal textures with classic hard-rock drive.
A series of brief online videos portrayed Fozzy as an storied American metal act forced to endure two decades in Japan because of an unbreakable recording contract; upon returning, singer Moongoose McQueen and his bandmates supposedly discovered that the Scorpions and Ozzy Osbourne had risen to fame by appropriating Fozzy’s songs. In truth the project was anchored by Jericho, with the remaining lineup initially drawn from Atlanta’s rap-metal group Stuck Mojo.
Following the October 2000 debut of those videos, Palm Pictures/Megaforce issued Fozzy’s self-titled first album as a companion release. A brief tour and an MTV special—facilitated by the WWF’s arrangement with the network’s parent company—generated modest underground metal attention, yet Jericho’s wrestling schedule soon halted further activity. Once Stuck Mojo completed an album and Jericho captured the heavyweight championship, the musicians reconvened, incorporating songwriting input from Jericho and Rich Ward; the resulting Happenstance appeared on Megaforce in summer 2002.
All That Remains surfaced in 2005 as Fozzy’s inaugural set of entirely original material, eventually surpassing 100,000 copies sold and earning favorable notices from both listeners and reviewers. The 2010 follow-up Chasing the Grail reinforced the band’s status as a viable populist metal outfit and a serious contender. Sin and Bones, the third collection of originals, entered at number one on the Billboard Heatseekers chart in 2012 before reaching the Top 200, while 2014’s Do You Wanna Start a War became their strongest commercial showing to that point, peaking at number 53 on the Billboard Top 200 and inside the Top Ten on the Hard Rock Albums chart.
Fozzy unveiled the title track from their seventh studio album, Judas, in April 2017; the full record followed in October and registered strongly on multiple rock-focused charts. The band released the single “Nowhere to Run” in 2019, “Sane” in 2021, and both “I Still Burn” and “Purifier” in 2022, all four songs appearing on their eighth studio effort, Boombox, issued that year by Sony Music.
A series of brief online videos portrayed Fozzy as an storied American metal act forced to endure two decades in Japan because of an unbreakable recording contract; upon returning, singer Moongoose McQueen and his bandmates supposedly discovered that the Scorpions and Ozzy Osbourne had risen to fame by appropriating Fozzy’s songs. In truth the project was anchored by Jericho, with the remaining lineup initially drawn from Atlanta’s rap-metal group Stuck Mojo.
Following the October 2000 debut of those videos, Palm Pictures/Megaforce issued Fozzy’s self-titled first album as a companion release. A brief tour and an MTV special—facilitated by the WWF’s arrangement with the network’s parent company—generated modest underground metal attention, yet Jericho’s wrestling schedule soon halted further activity. Once Stuck Mojo completed an album and Jericho captured the heavyweight championship, the musicians reconvened, incorporating songwriting input from Jericho and Rich Ward; the resulting Happenstance appeared on Megaforce in summer 2002.
All That Remains surfaced in 2005 as Fozzy’s inaugural set of entirely original material, eventually surpassing 100,000 copies sold and earning favorable notices from both listeners and reviewers. The 2010 follow-up Chasing the Grail reinforced the band’s status as a viable populist metal outfit and a serious contender. Sin and Bones, the third collection of originals, entered at number one on the Billboard Heatseekers chart in 2012 before reaching the Top 200, while 2014’s Do You Wanna Start a War became their strongest commercial showing to that point, peaking at number 53 on the Billboard Top 200 and inside the Top Ten on the Hard Rock Albums chart.
Fozzy unveiled the title track from their seventh studio album, Judas, in April 2017; the full record followed in October and registered strongly on multiple rock-focused charts. The band released the single “Nowhere to Run” in 2019, “Sane” in 2021, and both “I Still Burn” and “Purifier” in 2022, all four songs appearing on their eighth studio effort, Boombox, issued that year by Sony Music.
Albums
Boombox
2022
Judas
2017
Do You Wanna Start a War
2014
Sin And Bones
2012
Chasing the Grail
2010
All That Remains
2005
Happenstance
2002
Fozzy
2000
Singles
