One of the most versatile, talented riff machines and songwriters in rock ‘n’ roll today, Rich Ward is one of the linchpins behind Fozzy. With another big tour set to begin in Brighton on 6 February 2026, the band’s long-standing love affair with the UK continues.
For Rich Ward, a long-standing love affair is a good description. “I would say so,” he says. “We started off playing shows in America, and they always went well. Then the first time we came over to the UK, it was like we had visited a different planet. We had all different fans on a different planet. The love was on a different level.
“So because of that, we actually play more shows every year in the UK than we do in the States often. Obviously, it’s cheaper and easier to play in the States because it doesn’t require flights and all of the extra expenses. But in this era of our lives, when we know that we’ve probably played more gigs than we will in the future, at this age in our careers, you want everyone to count. You want every gig to be special, and you savour those moments. So for us it’s been special.”
For Rich, this tour is exciting as well because Fozzy have some “really incredible support groups as well. We’ve got Tailgunner and Marissa And The Moths on this, so we’ve been really fortunate.”
Rich loves the opportunity on tour to “build incredible relationships. We toured with The Hot Damm, and they’re an incredible all-girl rock band. We’ve just been really blessed.
“I got married to my wife in England, that’s how much I have a love affair with England. Every time I’m there, I try to go to at least a couple of soccer… football matches, excuse me. It’s the culture that is important to me.”
I say that, for all the writers who have covered Fozzy in the past, they all say that each show is just bloody good fun. “Amen, sir,” Rich smiles. “You got that right.”
Fall In Line was the last single released. With it being nearly three years since Boombox, this does not mean that Fozzy are in the early stages of the next album. “I think we’re gonna stick with just releasing singles for a while,” Rich says.
“I think part of the reason for that is, Chris [Jericho], on the last album Boombox, we had spent so much time on it, and every song was very important to us. Two or three songs get released as singles, and then the rest of them kind of go in the bin, so to speak.
“Chris Jericho, for context, was really hurt by it because he realised it’s that because we’re not in the age of albums anymore. Where do people go and buy physical albums? We’re in the days of playlists, singles, and streaming. He felt we should spend our time really focused on one song at a time and release them like that.
“It’s helped us in a lot of ways because of the pressure of making a 12 or 14 song album, especially when Chris has two or three other careers that take up a lot of time. So it allows us to not water down the process by focusing on this, this, this, and this and making an album.
“To do it properly, if you were all in a room together as a band, is about a month to write and a month to record. Fozzy can’t do that just because of, like I said, the way that we are as a band.
“The way that it came up, we started as kind of a covers project [Fozzy Osbourne]. Our first two albums were cover albums because Jericho was wrestling full-time with the WWF. I was in a band called Stuck Mojo, and Fozzy was our love affair band. It was our side project that we put all of our passion into.
“Then, when it became our priority, and you know that it’s Chris’s priority because his handle says Chris Jericho Fozzy on social media, not Chris Jericho wrestler. He is a passionate lover of music and a performer and songwriter.
“So the goal moving forward is just to put everything we have into every song. There’s a brand new song that we’re working on right now. Chris just recorded the vocals last week. It will probably be released, I would say, in March, something like that. We were hoping to get it out for this UK tour that I’ll be seeing you guys in a few weeks. But as I said, it’s up to the universe.
“We work with a producer named Johnny Andrews. He produces a million big bands himself, so it’s all down to scheduling. Everyone has all these other things going on, and, well, when are you available? Well, how about Tuesday, three weeks from now? Tuesday, three weeks from now. What about now?
“But that’s kind of as we get older. Chris has three kids. Our producer has a kid, and like I said, life is complicated.
“I never had kids. I never did. I don’t have hobbies. I don’t have a life outside of this. Playing guitar, writing songs, performing, and touring have been my life since I was 18 years old. There’s never been a disruption or an exit off the freeway. It’s just been a focus on that. There was never a moment where I doubted that this is what I was going to do. So, I can be the pillar, the middle post in the tent of Fozzy, so to speak.
“Because life is complicated for so many other people we work with, I just say, I’m always available. You let me know, I will be there. Tell me the time, and it works good for everybody. I learned a long time ago that if you have to work around everybody’s schedule, you’ll never do anything. It can’t be that way.
“I have a band that, when Fozzy is not touring, called Guardians Of The Jukebox. It’s an ’80s cover band, and we’re the biggest ’80s cover band, bar maybe one or two others in the whole US. Part of the reason is I won’t work with anybody who has a job, right? This has to be it. Every day is all chips in. You want to do this for a living because everybody wants to be successful. Everybody.
“So 95% of the success is just in your commitment and the work and being available. There’s no days off. I don’t care if you have a family reunion. I’m sorry, this is the choice we made. It just is, and I’ve missed a lot of life. I’ve been gone for my wife’s birthday and anniversaries and Thanksgiving and Easter and all of these things that are important in culture.
“When you grow up, the culture says Easter Sunday, you have your dinner with your family, and Grandma comes over. There was none of that. I’ve never had that normality and I miss it. I know I should have had kids. I know I should have. All my friends who have kids, I long for teaching them to play a sport, going fishing or going to Disney World. The things that you just miss. All of those things.
“But I made my decision a long time ago. Part of that was my dad was a golf pro growing up. His priority was golf. I never saw my dad a lot because of that. I realised that if I was going to be what he was going to do, which is prioritise in something that even when it’s perfect, it’s the hardest thing in the world to do.
“Like being a musician. Now, I have lots of friends of mine that are musicians and they’re fantastic musicians and the music they write and their performances are incredible. They just don’t do it for a living. They have a job, and they do it because it’s a passion of theirs.”
Rich talks about how the Fozzy manager, who also managed Stuck Mojo, deals with young people who have asked him to be their manager. “He says, ‘Well, are you prepared to take all of your earthly belongings and put them in the front yard and set it on fire, because that’s the gamble. That is the gamble because there are no paychecks, there’s no pension fund, there’s no insurance, there’s nothing. It’s just you, a guitar or drums, an old broken down van full of gear, and the next show.’
“That’s the bargain, that’s the life that that we choose, and I’ve never regretted one moment of it.”
The Fozzy UK Tour is coming up, the set list is prepared and ready, and the band are excited. “The longest set list we’ve ever played,” Rich smiles. “Every year, we add an additional song. We wanna give them their money’s worth. It’s a long set list that covers the entire discography. It’s gonna be a great show, really exciting.”
For Rich Ward, the UK fans are the best in the world. “To my American brothers and sisters who may hear this, I apologise to you,” he smiles. “It’s your burden to hold up your end of the bargain, and there’s just something magic about the UK. I don’t know what it is, but we have just had the best times. It’s the chanting, the energy, the vibes.
“If you’ve not seen Fozzy in the UK, if you live in Germany, get on Ryanair and fly over. It’s magical, it’s special, and I’m super excited about this tour.”
Rich is also excited for the English culture. What is he looking forward to about Britain, fish and chips or the English beer with no bubbles? “I’m most excited about Sunday roast and having a bunch of good curries.”
Fozzy’s headline UK tour begins February 2026, extending their 25th Anniversary celebrations to British stages. For the tour, Fozzy will be joined by MetalTalk favourites Tailgunner and Marisa And The Moths. Tickets are available from fozzyrock.com.
