Professional wrestler and Fozzy singer, Chris Jericho, was interviewed by Reinvented with Jen Eckhart and talked about his favorite lead singers, whose steps he decided to follow throughout his career.
As you may know, Jericho has been pursuing a very successful career as a metal singer and wrestler. He achieved international fame and commercial success as Fozzy’s frontman after releasing their self-titled debut studio album on October 24, 2000, which received very positive reviews.
In addition, during his recent appearance, Jericho revealed he looked up to legendary frontmen, such as KISS’ Paul Stanley, Van Halen’s David Lee Roth, The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger, Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson, and Queen’s Freddie Mercury.
Jericho stated that these lead singers’ way of performing their works and connecting with their audience has always been an inspiration. Therefore, he has aimed to follow their steps both as a vocalist and wrestler.
In Jericho’s words, he said:
“As a frontman, for example, I was a big fan of Paul Stanley, David Lee Roth, Mick Jagger, and Freddie Mercury — those types of guys. Bruce Dickinson… You watch how these guys perform and how they captivate a crowd, and there’s a real art form to it. It’s not easy. It’s like being a podcast host. It’s not easy being a podcast host.
People think it is, because there are literally a million podcasts, and a lot of ’em come and go so fast. So there’s a real art form to it, and there’s an art form to being a frontman of a rock and roll band. Yes, it’s important to sing. Yes, it’s important to have that power. You also have to be the party host, the ring leader, get people involved in the show. That’s what people want. That’s what I always wanted as a fan, and I still do.”
He went on:
“As I said, it’s the same thing when I first started wrestling — you take the inspiration and you add it to your own little blender and put a lot of yourself in it and kind of shake it all up and that’s what you get. Chris Jericho the wrestler is different from Chris Jericho the singer, but there are qualities that kind of interact and blend in both.
Being a live performer, whether you’re a comedian, a wrestler, a singer, a Shakespearean actor, there is a real element that you have to connect to the audience. If you can connect to the audience, you’ll always have them as fans. If you can elicit that emotion from them where they’re excited to see you, then you’ll always have them the next time you come to town.”
You can watch the interview below.
