During a recent interview with Meltdown of Detroit’s WRIF radio station, FOZZY singer Chris Jericho touched upon the subject of rock bands using pre-recorded backing tracks during live performances.
“We use backing tracks for some songs, and everybody does,” he said. “Unless you’re GUNS N’ ROSES… Let me rephrase that… If you’re in Slash‘s band… GUNS N’ ROSES has backing tracks. They have a keyboard player. It’s just the way of the world right now. It doesn’t mean we’re not singing and not playing.
“If you’re listening to a record, you go to a DEF LEPPARD gig and you hear ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’ that was recorded with 25 tracks of guitars, you can’t just go with two guitars on stage and in your right mind think there wasn’t something building up the background there. It’s just kind of the way that bands are. It doesn’t make you any less of a band. ‘Cause you know what? QUEEN used tracks in the ’70s. If you don’t believe me, watch it when they play ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ live.”
In 2020, former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach slammed Jericho over allegations that the FOZZY frontman uses pre-recorded vocal tracks during live performances.
Bach initially accused Jericho of “miming to a tape” at FOZZY concerts in a social media post. In response, the wrestler-turned-rocker insisted that he had “never mimed anything ever” and challenged Bach to a “singoff” with “no effects, no tuning, no bullsh*t”, saying “Bas is a great singer…but I’m better.”
Jericho‘s most public reaction to Bach‘s criticism came in a January 2021 tweet. At the time, he wrote: “I’ve been told that @sebastianbach continues to go out of his way to bury me. My response is this…be my guest! You are entitled to ur opinion & it doesn’t affect me either way. I still dig ur work on the first 3 @OfficialSkidRow albums & look forward to ur new record.”
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