Rich Ward
Rich Ward was born in Atlanta, Georgia, United States on January 16th, 1969 and is the Guitarist. At the age of 55, Rich Ward biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
At 55 years old, Rich Ward physical status not available right now. We will update Rich Ward's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.
Richard Park Ward (born January 16, 1969) is an American guitarist, also known by his stage name The Duke.
Ward is best known as a founding member of Stuck Mojo, but he is also known as lead guitarist of heavy metal band Fozzy.
Early life
Ward grew up listening to many indie-style soundtracks as that was all that was available to him. After his parents' divorce, Ward's mother's work schedule was hectic, resulting in her hiring a college student to look after him and his sister.
According to Ward, the student would often bring over heavy metal and hard rock albums from bands such as AC/DC, Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden, to name a few. From that point, Ward had a new outlook on music, having found the genre of music that "clicked" with him. Ward has also said in interviews that his favorite band growing up was Journey, and he has also cited bands like Bad Company and Foreigner as influences.
Ward began learning guitar at age 12, borrowing weekends from a friend's guitar, practicing different chords he picked up from his friends.
Personal life
Ward was previously married to professional wrestler Daffney. He has since remarried and he and his wife Julie live in the Atlanta area.
Career
Ward, along with bassist Duane Fowler and front man Bonz, formed Stuck Mojo in 1989. On the East Coast of the United States, the band's first six years consisted of touring clubs. Ward describes sleeping in his rehearsal space to save money in this period of his life.
Mojo's debut album Snappin' Necks was released in 1995 after being offered a recording deal with Century Media Records. Although the album had no mainstream success, it went on to influence several influential nu metal bands of today, such as Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit. Violated, a European-only EP, was released in 1996, as part of the band's first overseas tour. Stuck Mojo's second album, Pigwalk, came out the same year. Despite the fact that the band's second full-length album went out in similar numbers as the previous one, many commentators and musicians think this album to be a defining moment of rap-metal. Stuck Mojo's 1998 debut as the country's most profitable launch, Rising.
The band underwent a number of lineup changes from its inception. Ward and Bonz's tensions grew as the company's age progressed. When on tour in Europe, Ward claims that it once escalated to the point of being physically a physical confrontation between the two teams. At one time, they weren't even talking to each other, and they were solely concerned about the band's success.
In 2000, Stuck Mojo announced the Declaration of a Headhunter. During the process of recording and releasing the album, the band had been steadily declining. "That album was basically made with duct tape, we didn't even have a working band," Ward remembered. The bands' relationship with Century Media, both mutual and company, had been deteriorating, to the point where Ward disbanded the group a few months after releasing the album.
Ward formed Sick Speed with singer and guitarist Dale Steele, Mojo bassist Dan Dryden, and Mojo drummer Frank "Bud" Fontsere in 1999. Ward received World Wrestling Entertainment (then Known as the World Wrestling Federation, or WWF) star Chris Jericho backstage at a WWF show earlier this year. Ward invited Jericho to join his side band Fozzy Osbourne, which would later morph into the "mock rock" band Fozzy, after they became bonded over 1980s heavy metal. Although the band had originally intended to be a fun side project, Metal Blade Records had sued the band and filmed a "mockumentary" that aired on MTV. The show included a fictional back story about Fozzy, claiming that the band members had written several of the most popular 1980s metal songs, but that an unfair deal had compelled the band to remain in Japan for the past 20 years, encouraging other acts to take credit for the compositions.
Fozzy and Happenstance, Fozzy's first two albums, were mostly made up of covers of 1970s and 1980s metal bands' songs. All That Remains was strictly originals, although two of the songs, "The Test" and "The Way I Am," were written by Ward during his time with Sick Speed, which disbanded in 2004. Ward explains the reason for a totally original album: "Ultimately, we were forced to decide what we are, we're a joke or a good joke with good songs."
Ward's debut solo album My Kung Fu is Good, released in early 2005, a year after he appeared under the stage name "The Duke," in Atlanta, Georgia.
"Evolution and expansion that rivals most of the rock acts currently dominating the airwaves have been lauded," Billboard magazine said.
In 2011, he joined Adrenaline Mob, a metal band, but he redirected his attention away in early 2012 to work on other projects.
Ward formed Stuck Mojo with Bonz and Fontsere in 2005, as well as new bassist Sean Delson. Ward said that he and Bonz had patched it up over recent years and regained the desire to write and broadcast records. Mojo began a tour of Europe and then moved to the United States. However, Bonz's reunion lasted only until early 2006, when the band approached Bonz with an ultimatum; if a substance abuse rehabilitation service is not included in the scheme, he will be compelled to leave the organization; or else he'll be required to leave the band. Ward and Bonz's once-brokered friendship, who often spoke of marijuana in the band's live shows, is attributed to the abuse.
Bonz responded with a promise that he would work on the drug himself. Ward cited this as a risk, owing to other musicians' deaths in metal bands' recent declines. Bonz left the band and was replaced by Lord Nelson, his brother.
Stuck Mojo is best known for their 2006 album "Open Season," which caused controversy in American media in general.
"Open Season" is the collection of Bonz and Ward's albums that they coproduced on in the restoration of Stuck Mojo, Southern Born Killers. Ward re-recorded the album with singer Lord Nelson, guitarist Mike Martin, bassist Sean Delson, and drummer Eric Sanders after Bonz' departure from the band (Frank Fontsere departed in December 2005). Stuck Mojo joined Napalm Records in early 2008 and re-released Southern Born Killers along with three new tracks. The album was released in the United States on February 29, 2008, and in the United States, on March 4, 2008.
The band "The Great Revival" was released worldwide in late 2008, and in the United States, it was released on January 13, 2009. Some commentators disliked the album's course, and evaluations were mixed.
Ward also began writing demos for a new Stuck Mojo publication on his website in 2015. Stuck Mojo's seventh studio album, "Here Come The Infidels," was released on PledgeMusic.com in March 2016. Ward, Frank Fontsere, and new members, Robby J. and Len Sonnier were among the new band's lineups on the album.