Richard Alfonso Martinez (born June 18, 1961), better known by the stage name Oz Fox, is the lead

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

of the Christian glam metal band

Stryper Stryper is an American Christian metal and heavy metal music, heavy metal band from La Mirada, California. The group's lineup consists of Michael Sweet (lead vocals, guitar), Oz Fox (guitar), Perry Richardson (bass), and Robert Sweet (musician), ...

. Martinez' high school friends called him ''Oz'' in honor of

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and media personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead singer of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which per ...

due to his ability to emulate the vocals of Osbourne while playing

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

covers in his pre-Stryper days. He was recruited by the Sweet brothers in 1983 to form what would become Stryper. As a founding member of the band, Fox recorded and toured with Stryper until the band's first break up in 1992 but has since rejoined the band.

Background

Fox was born on June 18, 1961, in

Whittier, California Whittier () is a city in Los Angeles County, California, and is part of the Gateway Cities. The city had 87,306 residents as of the 2020 United States census, an increase of 1,975 from the 2010 United States census, 2010 census figure. Whittier ...

, to Richard Joseph Martinez and Jessie Maria Martinez. Having been influenced by artists from many styles of music including country, Fox's style can best be described as having been heavily influenced by the style pioneered by

Eddie Van Halen Edward Lodewijk Van Halen ( , ; January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) was an American musician. He was the guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist and primary songwriter of the rock band Van Halen, which he founded with his brother Alex V ...

; Fox would often warm up by playing

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1973. Credited with restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene, Van Halen was known for their energetic live performances and the virtuosity of their guit ...

's "I'm The One" note for note before Stryper shows. He joined the LA guitarists trend of heavily incorporating tapping, sweeping, string skipping and wild tremolo use along with peers such as George Lynch,

Warren DeMartini Warren Justin DeMartini (born April 10, 1963) is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist for glam metal band Ratt, which achieved international stardom in the 1980s. Early life DeMartini was born on April 10, 1963, in Chicago, ...

, Jake E. Lee,

Mick Mars Robert Alan Deal (born May 4, 1951), known professionally as Mick Mars, is an American musician best known as the former lead guitarist and co-founder of the Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Mötley Crüe, being the oldest of the four origin ...

, and Tony Palacios. Fox recorded half of the guitar solos with Stryper while additionally providing background vocals for the group. He later took up the main vocal duties for a period of four months in 1992 after founding member

Michael Sweet Michael Harrison Sweet (born July 4, 1963) is an American musician; he is the co-founder, songwriter, guitarist and lead singer of the heavy metal music, metal band Stryper. He has also had a successful solo career and served as singer and gui ...

decided to leave the band and pursue a solo career. With Fox on lead vocals, the trio did two short tours in Europe. After Stryper, Fox played in several projects, including his own band, SinDizzy, where he played rhythm guitar and sang lead vocals. SinDizzy, which released an album in 1998 titled ''He's Not Dead'', included former Stryper bassist

Tim Gaines Tim Gaines (born Timothy Hagelganz; December 15, 1962) is an American bass guitarist best-known as the long-time bassist for the Christian metal band Stryper until his departure in 2017. Biography Early life Gaines was born in Portland, Ore ...

, drummer John Bocanegra and LA guitarist Bobby MacNeil. SinDizzy was a departure for Fox as it allowed him to explore his writing and playing from a much different perspective than in his prior work. SinDizzy would be put on hiatus however due to Fox and Gaines being asked to rejoin Stryper for their reunion in 2003 in support of the album ''7'' after the widespread acceptance and excitement generated by the first 'Stryper Expo'. Though Gaines would elect to leave the band, Fox, together with brothers Robert and Michael Sweet and newcomer bassist Tracy Ferrie and later Perry Richardson, is still recording and touring with the group. Fox's latest work is on Stryper's '' God Damn Evil'' album released in April 2018 and ''Even the Devil Believes'' from 2020.

Other activities

Fox has hosted "Rewind" on JCTV. In 2006, he joined the band

Bloodgood Bloodgood was an American Christian metal band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1983. By 1988, Bloodgood represented one of the four largest Christian metal bands (excluding the mainstream success of Stryper) alongside Barren Cross, Le ...

and has performed at several Christian rock festivals with them. Fox has helped to develop artists and bands in Southern California including recent HMMA's Award Winning Metal Band Fellguard from Murrieta and Fiasco, (formerly known as Understated) from Rancho Cucamonga. From 2006 to 2009, Fox gave private music lessons in Pasadena at a small music shop, Groovin on Music. Beginning in 2008, Fox joined the Las Vegas based classic rock band "Playground" featuring Frank Di Mino from the rock group

Angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

. Playground has since hired other members, but he and DiMino now play in a tribute band called Vinyl Tattoo in Las Vegas. In 2014, he produced the first full-length album by Oklahoma Christian metal band, Chaotic Resemblance, ''Get the Hell Out''.

Personal life

Fox married Annie Lobert, a former sex-worker for 16 years turned

evangelical Christian Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

, in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

, on June 5, 2009. The ceremony was broadcast live on the Internet. Lobert has a ministry to sex-workers still on the streets called " Hookers for Jesus". In August of 2018, Fox had a seizure while performing in Las Vegas and was taken to the hospital. There two masses were found in his head. In March of 2021, Fox entered the hospital and had brain surgery to treat the tumor near his ear to reduce the risk of hearing loss, impacted balance, possible loss of vision and spinal problems. However, following the surgery, Fox suffered hearing loss in his left ear.

Discography

Bloodgood

*2009: ''Live in Norway'' DVD,

(lead guitar & vocals) *2013: ''Dangerously Close'', Bloodgood (lead guitar & vocals)

Guest appearances

*1989: '' I 2 (EYE)'',

Michael W. Smith Michael Whitaker Smith (born October 7, 1957) is an American musician who has charted in both contemporary Christian music, contemporary Christian and mainstream charts. His biggest success in mainstream music was in 1991 when "Place in This Worl ...

(vocals on "All You're Missin' Is a Heartache") *1989: '' First Watch'',

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unit ...

(lead & vocals on "Hyperdrive") *1994: '' Scarecrow Messiah'',

Bride A bride is a woman who is about to be married or who is a newlywed. When marrying, if the bride's future spouse is a man, he is usually referred to as the ''bridegroom'' or just ''groom''. In Western culture, a bride may be attended by a maid, ...

(guitar on "Doubt") *2000: ''

Truth Truth or verity is the Property (philosophy), property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth, 2005 In everyday language, it is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise cor ...

'',

(guitar on "The Ever After") *2020: '' Truth in Unity'', Chris Catena's Rock City Tribe (guitar on "My Angel")

Other works

*1998: ''SinDizzy'', SinDizzy (lead vocals & guitar)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Oz 1961 births Living people 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century evangelicals 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century evangelicals American evangelicals American heavy metal guitarists American heavy metal singers American male guitarists American male singers American performers of Christian music Christian metal musicians Converts to evangelical Christianity from Roman Catholicism Guitarists from California Lead guitarists Musicians from Whittier, California Singers from California Stryper members