{"id":726317,"date":"2026-08-03T16:50:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T16:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/726317\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T16:50:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T16:50:09","slug":"i-put-him-above-ozzy-this-is-metals-greatest-frontman-according-to-devildrivers-dez-fafara","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/726317\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI put him above Ozzy\u201d: This is metal\u2019s greatest frontman, according to DevilDriver\u2019s Dez Fafara"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Few names carry more weight in heavy metal than <a href=\"https:\/\/guitar.com\/artists\/ozzy-osbourne\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ozzy Osbourne<\/a>. But for DevilDriver and Coal Chamber vocalist Dez Fafara, there\u2019s one frontman who sits even higher on the list: <a href=\"https:\/\/guitar.com\/artists\/pantera\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Pantera<\/a>\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/guitar.com\/artists\/phil-anselmo\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Phil Anselmo<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>During an appearance on the Garza Podcast with <a href=\"https:\/\/guitar.com\/artists\/suicide-silence\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Suicide Silence<\/a> guitarist <a href=\"https:\/\/guitar.com\/artists\/chris-garza\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Chris Garza<\/a>, Fafara spoke at length about Anselmo, calling him the greatest frontman metal has ever produced.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPhillip \u2013 for me \u2013 I would say is the top frontman in the world, period, end of story,\u201d Fafara says [via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ultimate-guitar.com\/news\/general_music_news\/phil-anselmo-is-above-ozzy-as-frontman-dez-fafara-says-hes-the-real-f---ing-deal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Ultimate Guitar<\/a>]. \u201cI love Ozzy, but I put him above Ozzy. That\u2019s just cause\u2026fuck, I don\u2019t know, man. Plus, he\u2019ll beat your fucking ass. He\u2019s real. He\u2019s a real fucking deal \u2013 Holyfield [referencing American boxer, Evander Holyfield].\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fafara says Anselmo\u2019s appeal goes far beyond his commanding stage presence, praising both his songwriting and Pantera\u2019s enduring influence on heavy music.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s an amazing frontman, amazing writer, and obviously one of the biggest bands in the world. Influenced everybody. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s anybody not influenced by Pantera. I wish I would have found him earlier, I would have got influenced vocally. But that just never happened.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Elsewhere in the conversation, Fafara reveals how a chance meeting with Anselmo on Melrose Avenue eventually blossomed into a close friendship.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have a crazy story. When I was in Coal Chamber, I was walking down Melrose Ave. and Coal Chamber was just about to get signed, and I saw Phillip,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd I said, \u2018Hey man, I love your shit. I\u2019m listening to your shit.\u2019 And he put his bags down, he\u2019s like, \u2018Cool, man.\u2019 He signed something for me. I\u2019m like, \u2018One day, I\u2019m going to tour with you.\u2019 And he goes, \u2018You know what, man? Bad ass. I hope you will.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Just a year later, that prediction came true.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe pull up to a Pantera tour in my bus. Nobody\u2019s on the bus but me. I hear the door knock and I answer it, and it\u2019s Anselmo. And he goes, \u2018Get your shit.\u2019 I thought it was getting kicked off the tour.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018OK.\u2019 I got my bag and I go up on his bus. And he\u2019s like, \u2018This is my bunk, that\u2019s your bunk below me. Throw your shit in \u2013 you\u2019re living with me.\u2019 And that\u2019s how we became friends.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Watch the full interview below.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Few names carry more weight in heavy metal than Ozzy Osbourne. But for DevilDriver and Coal Chamber vocalist&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":726318,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[96,5204,128,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-726317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-metal","tag-music","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=726317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726317\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/726318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=726317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=726317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=726317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}