Chris Jericho Thankful For Being Taken Into Metal Community

Chris Jericho is aware that in the past when a lot of musicians first met him they thought of him first as a WWE superstar -- and a peer second. "Obviously a lot of those guys are fans of wrestling," he tells Noisecreep. "And then when you first bring the band up, I think a lot of times it's like, 'Well, he's got a band, whatever.' Then they hear what we're doing with the band and they're like, 'Whoa, that band's actually pretty cool.'"

Now 10 years in as the frontman for Fozzy, with the band having just released their fourth album, 'Chasing The Grail,' this past January, Jericho has largely passed that point of being a novelty and has been embraced by his peers.

"Zakk [Wylde] has loved Fozzy, he played on 'All That Remains'; we played with Dave Mustaine in 2005 and 2006 at a couple of festivals, he watched the band from the side of the stage; [Rob] Halford's a fan of Fozzy," Jericho says. "It's cool, because these guys that I started idolizing when I was a kid now appreciate what I do -- not only wrestling, but with Fozzy as well. It isn't just Chris Jericho's side project, this is a legitimate rock 'n' roll band that my peers are starting to dig, as well as some of my heroes, which is very cool."

He credits Wylde, who he also calls one of his best friends, with starting Fozzy on the road to respect. "I first met him in '99, when Fozzy was just starting," Jericho recalls. "Then a couple of years later when he found out that Rich was in the band, that was when he was like, 'Wow, that Rich Ward is great.' That's when we kind of started the Fozzy/[Black Label Society] connection."

Jericho isn't above still being a fan and acting like one though. "I just met James Hetfield, and I freaked out because it was James; Ozzy, too," he says.