Stryper guitarist Oz Fox recently stopped by 97.1's Big Hair Show With Mel to talk about the current state of his health as he gets treatment for brain tumors, and touring with Stryper this fall after being forced to miss the Australian leg of the band's God Damn Evil tour. Check out the interview below.

Listen to "Big Hair Show With Mel - Oz Fox Interview Sept 2018" on Spreaker.

After heavy touring for the first part of 2018, Stryper will return to the road this fall for the second half of their God Damn Evil World Tour. And there is good news for Stryper fans… guitarist Oz Fox intends to return to the road for most of the dates this fall.

This has been a challenging summer for Oz and his bandmates. On August 11th, Oz suffered a medical emergency while performing with a side project in Las Vegas. An on-stage seizure led to the discovery of some previously unknown “spots” on the brain. Oz has been released from the hospital, although additional testing and treatment will be necessary. However, he should be released to work this fall while his medical team decides the best course of action moving forward. You can view Stryper's original statement here.

 

Following is an update on Oz's condition, originally posted here:

"We have doctor appointment news!

- Oz will be getting an MRI to see if the tumors have grown OR shrunk September 25th. We pray the latter!

- On September 28th, he will also be going to a seizure neurologist specialist to get an EKG scheduled and to see if the meds can be switched or decreased.

- We are patiently waiting for the head, throat & nose specialist to give an audio test to Oz’s tumor near his inner ear/brain, to see if this can be worked on/watched/or helped.

And in other news...Michael Sweet, Lisa Sweet, Lena Sweet and Perry Richardson all took a special out of the way trip and flew to Vegas before Stryper’s show at Rocktember (in Minnesota) to come and cheer Oz up with dinner and a lot of love. It meant so much to us to see our good friends come & support us during this time...we love them so much! Even though Oz cannot be there to play (doctors orders) he is happy the show will go on without him with Stryper’s friend Howie Simon. Thank you Howie for blessing us with your talent & stepping up."

Oz was forced to sit out the Australia tour dates earlier this month, and he’ll miss the September dates as well due to air travel restrictions from his doctor. However he intends to rejoin Stryper on the road in October. Oz handpicked Los Angeles-based guitarist Howie Simon to fill in for him on the September dates, allowing Oz additional time to rest and recover. Simon will be a familiar face to many Stryper fans with performance credits that include Nelson, Jeff Scott Soto Band, Scrap Metal, Talisman, Eric Martin Band, Winger and more.

"Howie Simon and I have been friends for well over a decade now,” says Oz. "It is great to have him help us out and fill in for me while I am in recovery. I am looking forward to catching some fan videos of him online. He's an excellent performer and his guitar playing outranks so many in the business. In my opinion, it is very important for the band to fulfill dates that have been booked for so long. I am thankful for the continued support of the fans while my Stryper family and I face this detour in my career, and I look forward to seeing many of you on the road in October and November."

"We appreciate all the support, thoughts and prayers from everyone at this time,” says frontman Michael Sweet. "We look forward to having our brother Oz back as quickly as possible. We're also very grateful to Howie for working so hard learning the material and parts to be able to sit in with us for the time being. We'll do our best to bring you the absolute best show possible until Oz returns.”

Stryper continues to dominate the hard rock/heavy metal scene with the their critically-acclaimed tenth studio album, God Damn Evil - released in April via Frontiers Music srl. Rocking since 1984, Stryper is responsible for such classic '80s metal albums as Soldiers Under Command, To Hell with the Devil and In God We Trust. In fact, Stryper is the first band to ever have two songs in MTV’s Top 10 simultaneously with their hits “Free” and “Honestly.” After a sabbatical for much of the 1990's, Stryper returned strong in the early 21st century. To date, the Dove Award-winning and GRAMMY-nominated band has sold over 10 million records worldwide.

Tour dates:

October
12 - The Vogue - Indianapolis, IN
13 - Delmar Hall - St Louis, MO
14 - Diamond Ballroom - Oklahoma City, OK
18 - Stampede - Aurora, CO
20 - LeatherHheads - Draper, UT
25 - The Marquee - Tempe, AZ
26 - The Rialto Theatre - Tucson, AZ
27 - The Club @ Cannery Casino Hotel - North Las Vegas, NV
31 - Whiskey A Go Go - West Hollywood, CA

November
2 - San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino - Highland, CA
3 - The Canyon Theater - Santa Clarita, CA
4 - Ace of Spades - Sacramento, CA
6 - El Corazon - Seattle, WA
11 - Virginia St Brewhouse - Reno, NV
14 - Pub Station Ballroom - Billings, MT
17 - Anthem @ Hard Rock Casino - Sioux City, IA

January
31 - Tupelo Music Hall - Derry, NH

February
1 - Wolf’s Den @ Mohegan Sun - Uncasville, CT
9 - Kawasaki Club Citta - Tokyo, Japan - Rescheduled
10 - Kawasaki Club Citta - Tokyo, Japan - Rescheduled

For tour dates, tickets and more information, visit stryper.com.