You may know Chris Jericho as the front man of the rock band “Fozzy,” or from his ongoing career as a WWE heavyweight, or maybe even from his literary endeavors as a NY Times best seller four times over. However you know him, this quintessential renaissance man is a master of all that he touches.
Currently on tour with Fozzy and soon to embark on the inaugural “Rock and Wrestling” cruise, setting sail October 27-October 31 from Miami to Nassau, Jericho took some time out of his very busy schedule to speak to us at Full Access Magazine about what was, what is, and what’s in store for Fozzy and the Chris Jericho brand. Because Chris Jericho isn’t one thing; he’s everything.
Having recently witnessed a most impressive Fozzy performance in Las Vegas, at Vamp’d on March 11th, I thought it best to get Jericho’s reflections on that first “Judas Rising” tour, which took place before their recent three week stint in Europe, and in the midst of this next leg.
“The Vegas show seems like a lifetime ago. We’ve done a bunch of other stuff since then. Vegas was a highlight. L.A. was a highlight, because it was the Whiskey and we sold that out. Chicago was great. Detroit was great. Most of the shows on that tour were a lot of fun. They have been since the Judas album came out. You can see a lot more buzz about the album. We make sure to have a great show whether it’s 10 or 10,000, we don’t care, just want to make sure people have a great time at a Fozzy gig.”
Well fun may be an understatement. Fozzy live is everything you’d want and expect out of a rock show. The crowd in a frenzy, consumed with all Fozzy, all the time. Seems Jericho has merged the wrestling and the rock crowd seamlessly.
“Sometimes we get people that go check out WWE because of the fact that I’m the singer of Fozzy. That didn’t know what my other job was. There’s always going to be a crossover element ‘cuz it’s all Chris Jericho related. It’s all who I am as a performer, but most of the time, it’s a Fozzy show. People are there to see Fozzy. A wrestling show, people are there to to see wrestling.”
With that being said Fozzy is more than just Jericho. There is Paul Di Leo on bass, Bill Grey picking up the rhythm guitar, and Frank Fontsere holding down the back line. Fozzy co-founder, and former Stuck Mojo member, Rich Ward completes this quintet as lead guitarist.
“I used to say that he (Ward) was the most under-rated player, but now that Fozzy’s growing, definitely one of the greatest. And not in a shred Van Halen way. Much more a John Sykes, David Gilmore, Angus Young kind of thing. It’s not what he plays, it’s what he doesn’t play. His feel is tremendous. I couldn’t think of a better guy to be with me on stage. I’m a big personality and so is he, and you need that in a band. You look at Mick and Keith, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, or Van Halen/Roth, Van Halen/Hagar. Any of the best bands always have that one-two punch; that’s the most important thing about Fozzy. It’s not just ‘Chris Jericho and his band of merry men.’ It’s Fozzy. It’s a five point star. Five great performers with years of stage experience.”
Isn’t that the truth. If you think that Fozzy’s intimate venues or lack of stage props and pyro, might be, dare we say, mediocre, you couldn’t be further from the truth. Fozzy kills it merely by being who they are: Rock musicians through and through. Putting on amazing shows. Loving and living the rock star persona.
“That’s our reputation. Putting on a great live show. Leaving it all on stage. We don’t have dragons coming from the ceiling, or flash pots and fire, and then pyro. We are the show. We take great pride in that.”
As they should. To know Fozzy is to love them, and to embrace Jericho’s genuine and flamboyant entertainment persona is the same.
With everything that Jericho embodies, the soon to sail “Rock and Wrestling Cruise” is sure to be a vacation unlike any other for fans.
Aimed at becoming an annual event, fans can expect three days of wrestling mayhem, rock n’ roll debauchery, and a bit of comic relief.
With Jericho acting as Master of Ceremonies and hosted by renowned wrestling commentator, Jim Ross, along with the legendary Jerry “The King” Lawler, it’s safe to say this will be a vacation you’ll never forget.
According the www.chrisjerichocruise.com, there are 36 wrestling superstars confirmed, with the possibility of more to follow. That is combined with performances by Fozzy (of course), the always amazing Corey Taylor, featuring Ozzy tribute band “Blizzard of Ozzy, ” as well as the talented, and beautiful ladies of “Cherry Bombs.”
If that double hit of music and wrestling wasn’t enough, the cruise will also showcase comedians Ron Funches, Craig Gass, and Brian Williams.
All this seems like quite an endeavor, even for an over achiever like Jericho. How does one exactly put an entire cruise together?
“We played the ‘Kiss Kruise’ back in 2015. It was a great time. A very, very cool experience. As soon as the ship docked I called my manager. I said ‘I want to do this. I want to do my own cruise. I know i can make this happen.’ I mean what is Chris Jericho known for? That’s rock & roll and wrestling. I’d never seen a cruise with these elements before. That’s what I based it around. What would I like to experience if I was on a cruise. It took me two years get it up and running. I had a lot of trials and tribulations. A whole bunch of stuff happened and not happened, that should have happened and eventually we got it going. I think we are ten weeks away from setting sail and it’s hard to believe that it’s almost here, ‘cuz it’s been so much work on a daily basis. Day in and day out, but very much worth it. I needed to take a chance and do it. Knowing it wouldn’t be easy. If it was easy everyone would try it. Not too many people have their own cruise, or want their own cruise, and it was all part of this idea, my thought process, to do something that had never been done before. Something completely different. So that’s what we’re doing.”
Clearly that sounds like a blast! If you want to be a part of Chris Jericho history, there are still cabins available according to the website.
With all the business of tours and cruise ships explained, I had just one remaining question for Chris, Just how many scarves are in your collection and do you have any from the alluring Mr. Steven Tyler?
“I do not have any scarves from Steven Tyler, but I have a very impressive scarf collection. I kinda grew out of the scarves when I started growing my hair out. Ya know scarves get tangled up in your hair. I’ve kinda dialed back on the scarves a bit, but the ‘scarf nation’ is definitely still there. It’s a very important accoutrement that any self respecting rocker should be wearing one.”
I think we can all agree with that.