Chris Jericho’s WWE US Championship reign ended at the hands of Kevin Owens after a pretty brutal match at WrestleMania 33. One of the primary reasons for the title change is, of course, to put KO over but another equally significant reason is that Y2J is about to depart the wrestling scene and return to the music scene with his band, Fozzy.
For those of you who are unaware, Fozzy is Jericho’s band of which he has been the lead singer since its inception back in the year 1999. The Ayatollah of Rock n Rolla takes a break from wrestling every few years to record a new album with Fozzy or to go on tour with them.
It’s the same case this time around as Jericho is expected to be away from the company for a number of months until he makes his inevitable return. It will definitely be sad to see Y2J leave in the midst of one of his best runs as a pro-wrestler but his love for his band dictates that he return.
So, without further ado, here are 5 things to know about Chris Jericho’s band, Fozzy:
#5) The origins of the name “Fozzy.”
One of Chris Jericho’s greatest musical influences is one of the godfathers of heavy metal, Ozzy Osbourne. When Y2J initially started a band back in the late-1990s, he wanted to pay tribute to the man who inspired his music and hence named the band Fozzy Osbourne.
It originally started out as a tribute, but as the band enjoyed more success, Jericho decided that to shorten that up to just Fozzy. It makes sense that as your band becomes more and more famous, you want to carve out your own identity.
It is a testament to how good the band is that they managed to achieve that initial success despite such a clowny name. But, then again Jericho has made a career of making clowny cool, so I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise. Well played, Chris.
#4) The co-founder of the band used to be married to a wrestler
Chris Jericho’s partner in crime – the other co-founder of the band, Fozzy – is Richard “The Duke” Ward. Ward has been instrumental in the success of Fozzy and is a supremely gifted guitarist. That comes as no surprise to anyone who knows anything about him.
What might be a little surprising, however, is Ward’s connection to wrestling. Apart from the obvious connection with Jericho, Ward used to be married to former WWE and TNA wrestler, Daffney. You remember the weird gothic wrestler from back in the day. Also, the one who had the strange Sarah Palin gimmick in TNA.
It’s not a marriage that lasted for too long, as is often the case in the volatile worlds of wrestling and music, but he has gone on to find another partner since then to whom he is still married. Daffney, on the other hand, has not tied the knot after this failed union
#3) They were originally a cover band
In case you have no idea about the world of music, a cover band is one that mainly performs other people’s songs instead of using original material. Knowing Jericho’s love for Ozzy Osbourne and Ozzy’s band – Black Sabbath – it’s no surprise that Fozzy originally started off as a cover band.
Also read: Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho confirmed for WWE Payback
In fact, their first two albums were a mixture of covers and original tracks. They covered a variety of heavy metal behemoths including the likes of the aforementioned Black Sabbath, British metal legends Iron Maiden, Metallica and many more.
After these first two albums, though, they soon became a band that dabbled exclusively in original music and went to achieve moderate success especially with the album, All That Remains.
#2) They have had a number of famous musical guests
Chris Jericho’s fame in the wrestling has helped him rope in some big names from the international rock and metal community to contribute on the albums released by Fozzy over the years. One of the benefits of being famous is that other famous people are willing to help you out.
There have been some truly iconic names to have featured on Fozzy albums including the likes of Zakk Wylde who played the guitar for Jericho’s hero Ozzy Osbourne, M Shadows from Avenged Sevenfold, Mark Tremonti from Alter Bridge – the band that made Edge’s iconic WWE Theme song – and many more.
Fozzy’s song Sandpaper, on which M Shadows is featured, has even won an award. Not a famous one, but an award nonetheless.
#1) A Fozzy song was featured on a WWE pay per view and a TNA pay per view
Fozzy’s most famous song is without a shadow of a doubt, Enemy which was released on the All That Remains album. It went to achieve a measure of success in the music community and also the wrestling scene.
It was featured as the theme song for the WWE pay per view, No Way Out, in 2005 and then a year later TNA also acquired the rights to the song for their Bound for Glory pay per view.
It looks like Chris Jericho enjoyed some nice royalties both from WWE and its arch-nemesis, TNA.
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