Krishta Abruzzini Shares A Rare Sober Moment With Black Label
Society's Zakk Wylde To Discuss Guitars, Wrestling, Aging
Gracefully, Life With Ozzy, And, Of Course, Beer!!!!

For most guys with any testosterone running through their veins, it’s
the ultimate fantasy: Strapping on that guitar and stepping up to the
microphone while looking out at the sea of fans all flicking their lighters
and chanting your name. Or getting a telephone call from Ozzy
Osbourne himself, saying he wants you to play with him. For Zakk
Wylde, this is a normal day.

Zakk, known best for being “The Guitarist” that took Randy Rhodes’ place after his untimely death, is
living the Americana rock n' roll dream. He’s played with Ozzy. His side projects while on break with
Ozzy include Lynyrd Skynhead, Pride & Glory, some solo acoustic work and of course his band Black
Label Society. He’s also crossed over into film this year with a role in which he plays a drunken guitar
god in the upcoming movie Metal God starring Jennifer Aniston and Marc Wahlberg.

Some 10 years ago, I interviewed Zakk while he was on break from playing with Ozzy. “The band is
called Pride and Glory, and we drink a lot of beer”, were his first words slurred to me. It was around
8pm and yes indeed, by that hour some brew had been swilled.

This go around, I was lucky to get a sober Zakk to interview at 10am. Unfortunately, at 4pm, I was
the unlucky one at the Ozzfest show to be standing directly beneath him taking pictures as he
smashed an unopened can of beer into his forehead, and squeezed its contents into his mouth, spilling
the rest all over my head. He then spit some of the beer into the audience and I got the residuals of
that as well as what dripped from his beard. Ahh, the glamorous life of a rock n' roll photographer.

ZAKK: Good morning.

KNAC.COM: Good morning Zakk.

KNAC.COM: How’s Ozzfest treating you?

ZAKK: Fuckin’ great. We just got done with Mile High Stadium, so we can’t
be doing bad.

KNAC.COM: But what’s up with you getting a 25-minute set and slipknot getting an hour?

ZAKK: Because Slipknot is selling a lot more records. We’ve got 25 minutes to beat as much ass as we
can. So there ya go.

KNAC.COM: Last time you were in my neck of the woods, I came down to the venue to interview you
and the club owner said you guys just split and canceled the show with no warning. I talked to your
tour manager who told me to tell everyone that the owner was a real asshole and to be sure and pass
that along (to which I just did).

ZAKK: Where was that?

KNAC.COM: Portland, Oregon. Do you guys do that often?

ZAKK: It happens. Not often. But it happens. It’s all part of the business side.

KNAC.COM: Will you be getting up on stage with Black Sabbath during
Ozzfest?

ZAKK: No. The Ozzman has just been doing the Sabbath thing. I seen Ozzy
the other day, he was just coming off the bus and we were shooting the shit
about the new record.

KNAC.COM: New record? Tell me more.

ZAKK: No fuckin’ clue for the title. But we have seven or eight songs in the
can right now and after Ozzfest we’ll be wrapping it up and getting it done.

KNAC.COM: Are you going to tour that one?

ZAKK: Yeah, oh yeah. Sharon (Ozzy’s wife) and Ozzy will definitely want to do that.

KNAC.COM: Did you ever find your stolen bullseye guitar?

ZAKK: No, I haven’t found it yet.

KNAC.COM: What happened with that anyway?

ZAKK: Well the guy on the crew didn’t lock-up the U-Haul, and the fuckin’ thing is gone. Two guitars
fell out, one of the guitars that Gibson is making for me now and the bullseye. They both flew out and
I don’t know where they are.

KNAC.COM: Where do you envision yourself 10 years from now?

ZAKK: At the bar.

KNAC.COM: Did you fire the guy?

ZAKK: Um, yeah.

KNAC.COM: Probably got a little beatin' too I would imagine.

ZAKK: Oh yeah.

KNAC.COM: I’ve taken pictures of you back to your Lynyrd Skynhead days and Pride and Glory. Just
curious as to if you know what’s happening with James Lomenzo and Greg, the drummer from Pride
& Glory?

ZAKK: James I talk to every now and then. Greg the drummer I haven’t talked to in years.

KNAC.COM: Well, Greg didn’t work out very well with you guys did he (laughing)?

ZAKK: No he didn’t. Basically we told him he could just go fuck himself.

KNAC.COM: You’ve got a new bass player now with BLS, will he be in the permanent line-up or will
the old bass player be back?

ZAKK: SOB had to go home and take care of some personal shit and so I just got Mike Inez (Ozzy, Alice
in Chains) out here for the summer. SOB will be back.

KNAC.COM: You recently did a project with keyboardist Derek Sherinian (Alice Cooper, Kiss, Dream
Theater)? [The album is titled Inertia and features Zakk, Steve Lukather, Simon Phillips, and Tony
Franklin]

ZAKK: Yeah, Derek asked me to be on his record and I told him no problem.

KNAC.COM: How’d that go? Or better question, how can you stand to be in
the same room with him for more than five minutes? Or do you just have
to be a girl to form that opinion?

ZAKK: (laughs) He’s fuckin’ hysterical man.

[KNAC.COM: I’ve known Derek for several years. I used to think his
pomposity had to be a persona. It’s not. (laughing)

ZAKK: Yah, you don’t have to worry about any self-confidence there.

KNAC.COM: To his credit though, I have to say that while most keyboardist’s are sitting at home
waiting for a call this guy is probably the most prolific in his career in creating new projects and
working with the best musicians out there.

ZAKK: Yah, but he’s definitely a character.

KNAC.COM: I understand you have quite an interest in WWF. Who’s your favorite wrestler?

ZAKK: Yeah, obviously Stone Cold and the Undertaker, but all the guys in the WWF are just very cool
fuckin’ guys.

KNAC.COM: Do you ever get tired of being compared to a young Gregg Allman?

ZAKK: No. Ain’t nothing wrong with that. That motherfucker can sing his fuckin’ ass off. But I haven’t slept with Cher yet.

KNAC.COM: Favorite brand of beer?

ZAKK: Sierra Nevada as of late. It depends on what kind of
mood I’m in. I like it all, ya know.

KNAC.COM: If I remember right you have a couple of kids,
how do you balance this lifestyle with a wife and kids?

ZAKK: That’s easy. You make time for your wife and your
family. I take them out [on tour] with me once in a while.

KNAC.COM: And what do the kids think of daddy?

ZAKK: Well, they know I love them and as long as they’ve get to go to fuckin’ Toys R Us, I don’t think
they really give a fuck. (laughing)

KNAC.COM: Tell me about your movie star career?

ZAKK: I guess you could call it that. We had a good time making it though. Marc Wahlberg and
Jennifer Aniston and shit like that. Everybody on the crew was fuckin’ awesome.

KNAC.COM: Was the character a beer guzzling metal God a far stretch for you?

ZAKK: (laughs) Oh yeah. I didn’t have to do the British accent like they originally wanted me to. I
just did the lines so it was no problem.

KNAC.COM: Are you into any limp Korn or kid bizkit bands?

ZAKK: I’m too busy fuckin’ bleedin’ Black Label to even give a fuck right now. I mean, all the metal
bands will stick together and do our shit. It would get boring if music didn’t change.

KNAC.COM: Do you ever get tired of being compared to a young Gregg
Allman?

ZAKK: No. Ain’t nothing wrong with that. That motherfucker can sing his
fuckin’ ass off. But I haven’t slept with Cher yet.

KNAC.COM: Is that next on your agenda?

ZAKK: Hey, Cher’s looking pretty good. She’s been hitting that lifecycle
and the gym pretty hard. I’d have to make sure my wife didn’t care though.

KNAC.COM: Speaking of working-out, you’ve been known to hit the gym
yourself. How do you balance working out with drinking beer and controlling a serious beer gut?

ZAKK: You just got to work out hard. If I didn’t hit the gym I’d be about 275 lbs right now. I wouldn’t
be playing music that’s for sure.

KNAC.COM: Where do you envision yourself 10 years from now?

ZAKK: At the bar.

KNAC.COM: Do you ever see yourself retiring or can you see yourself at 80
doing this?

ZAKK: I think I’ll be doing it, but I think it will evolve into something else. I
mean I don’t want to be up there headbanging. You never know until you
get there.

KNAC.COM: Well, Ozzy’s still doing it and he’s getting up there.

ZAKK: Oh I know. But I dig stuff like Neil Young too, "Heart of Gold" and shit like that. I’ll sit around
and do acoustic shit.

KNAC.COM: So Zakk is going to mellow out?

ZAKK: It’s pretty heavy shit right now, I can’t see myself clanking out shit with a bullseye guitar at
that age, you know what I mean?

KNAC.COM: Do you think your liver will last?

ZAKK: If it’s time to shut down it’s gonna shut down. Take it one day at a
time, ya know.




Funny how ev'rything was roses
When we held on to the guns

Write To Me Here

AIM: SmarterChild

Sweet Mother Mary, so many say they've seen you
But if I'm shown, I promise I'll lie
Cause most things are meaningless, the more you get to know them
Down here love is the only gun I trust

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He’s also crossed over into film this year with a role in which he plays a drunken guitar
god in the upcoming movie Metal God

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