NEWS: Stryper’s Oz Suffers A Seizure On Stage In Las Vegas
We are deeply sorry to hear that Oz Fox, Guitarist with Metallers Stryper who suffered a seizure whilst playing in Las Vegas.
Stryper said in a public statement that their lead-guitarist, Oz Fox, fell ill on Saturday night (12 August) while performing in Las Vegas. He suffered a seizure causing a fall on stage and after an MRI scan, doctors discovered an area of concern near his brain which they are now running a biopsy on. The doctors have instructed him not to drive or fly for 90 days. This ruled him out of the planned tour of Australia and Japan, which led to some very difficult decisions for the band as a whole.
Michael Sweet, Stryper’s lead vocalist says it all in his Facebook post
I met Oz when I was almost 13 years old. We went to high school together and we’ve been through it all together. We’ve been a “duo” for almost our entire lives and I love him. He’s family and a brother to me. Unexpectedly Oz fell ill and is now in the hospital. We’re all waiting to hear good news and we’re all praying deeply for that. We so appreciate your thoughts and prayers.
The internet is a great place to rally people for support and if there was ever a time for that, now is the time.
This happened just a few days before we were to leave for Australia & Japan for a two week run. We spent Sunday & Monday speaking with promoters trying to figure out how to proceed. We were able to postpone Japan (which was and is our first option). We tried to postpone the Australian dates as well but due to financial restraints (on the Australian side mind you), we made the very difficult decision to go after all and do what is best for all involved.
The first thing we did was to get Oz’s blessing and being the person that Oz is, we received that. Although it will not be the same at all without Oz, we did what we felt we had to do and we did it the best way we possibly could.
The important thing right now is Oz’s health and well being. Please continue to pray for him at this time. Pray for Annie and his family as well. We’ll be releasing updates as they come in.
We look forward to seeing you all on the road – with our brother, friend and partner Oz.
Thank you
🙏
While we are on the other side of the pond, we wish Oz godspeed to a full recovery and back to his usual energetic self. We know the band had a very difficult decision to take with the Australian tour and hopefully he will be well enough for the postponed Japanese tour.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Oz, his family, and his band mates in Stryper.
Formed in 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. Their latest album, “God Damn Evil” (Frontiers Music srl), was released in April. To date, the Dove Award-winning and GRAMMY-nominated band has sold over 10 million records worldwide.
For more information, visit www.Stryper.com.
