FOZZY's RICH WARD: 'I'm A Sucker For Great Songs, And I Always Have Been'

FOZZY guitarist Rich Ward spoke to The Entertainment Outlet about the band's upcoming LP, "Boombox", which is due on May 6. It is the follow-up to 2017's "Judas", the title track of which was recently certified gold by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association Of America) for accumulating 500,000 certified units.

Ward said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I feel like this is our best FOZZY album. I think 'Judas' is a fantastic record, but we didn't allow ourselves this process of at the end coming up with the real banger riffs. I would have been happier with 'Judas' if we had two or three more really crushing songs to really make it a more balanced meal. 'Cause I'm a big pop guy. Most of the music I listen to is pop. It's not new pop; it's '70s and '80s pop. But I'm a sucker for great songs, and I always have been. Even when METALLICA put out the 'Black' record, I was the first guy to go, 'Yeah.' When the [RED HOT] CHILI PEPPERS put out 'Blood Sugar Sex Magik', I was, 'Yeah.' I'm a big fan of big songs. And part of it is probably 'cause my mom listened to John Denver and Gordon Lightfoot and just the pop music of the '70s; that was the music I grew up listening to in the early '80s. The BEE GEES — the BEE GEES were my favorite band when I was seven or eight years old; the 'Saturday Night Fever' soundtrack was the album. And then the 'Grease' soundtrack. It wasn't until I heard AC/DC and then OZZY OSBOURNE in the early '80s that things really changed for me, and testosterone and hairs on my genitals then changed everything."

Rich continued: "I'm lucky that I married the two things [in FOZZY]; they both feel right to me. But I feel like a FOZZY record is not right unless it lives in both words where it's got these big superhooks and at the same time has the big riffs. And I feel like we just did it [this time around]. And it took the extra year, I think, to get it right. I think if we had put this [album] out in 2020, we may not have had this magic. It took a little more time. Just like I know there were a lot of authors who were also writing in the pandemic, and it gave their publishers chances to go back and do second and third drafts and to make some refinements in some places where it can make for a better book. And I feel like that's what we did."

"Boombox", which includes the top 10 singles "Nowhere To Run" and "Sane", was once again produced by Johnny Andrews.

FOZZY's "Save The World" 2022 U.S. tour, featuring special guests GFM, KRASHKARMA and THE NOCTURNAL AFFAIR, started on March 31 in Detroit, Michigan and will wrap on May 16 in Sauget, Illinois.

FOZZY debuted a brand new song, "Purifier", during its September 2021 concert in Flint, Michigan and has been performing it live ever since. Back in July 2021, FOZZY played another new song, "The Vulture Club", during its concert in Iowa City, Iowa. The band also performed its previous single, "Sane", live for the first time.

In May 2021, FOZZY dropped a video for its first new song in two years, the aforementioned "Sane", which hit one million views in its first two weeks. This first-of-its-kind video was filmed on the longest wooden roller coaster on the planet today.

In the summer of 2020, Chris revealed that FOZZY's next LP would contain 12 songs, including a cover of FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD's "Relax".

Ward and Andrews once again did "the lion's share" of the songwriting for the new LP, which was recorded primarily in Atlanta, Georgia.

In addition to producing "Judas", Andrews previously co-wrote FOZZY's "Lights Go Out" track back in 2014. He has also written songs with the likes of ALL THAT REMAINS, THREE DAYS GRACE and HALESTORM.

In November 2020, FOZZY appeared in its first global live streaming event from Madison Studios in Atlanta, Georgia.

This past January, 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 Chris Jericho (vocals),Rich Ward (guitars, vocals),Grant Brooks (drums),Billy Grey (guitars) and P.J. Farley (bass).