ZAKK WYLDE on OZZY OSBOURNE's passing: “he willed himself to hang in there long enough to knock that final show out”
12-08-2025
In a new interview with Waste Some Time With Jason Green, Zakk Wylde (born Jeff Wielandt), who became Ozzy Osbourne‘s guitarist in 1987 after sending the singer a demo tape, reflected on the recent passing of the legendary BLACK SABBATH frontman. He said: “It was so crazy, ’cause when we went back to the house — obviously we went home (in early July after the ‘Back To The Beginning’ concert), and then Barb (Zakk‘s wife Barbaranne) called me up (when I was on the road with PANTERA to tell me) that Ozz passed away.
“Whenever any of this stuff (about Ozzy‘s health issues) would always come up with us (in the past), just ’cause Ozz was just so tough and resilient, it would just be, ‘Oh, it’s just another bump in the road or another hurdle. We’ll get through it.’ So it was just always that. So you just always — not that you take anything for granted ever, but it’d be like Ozzy being Evel Knievel (American stunt performer and entertainer) —it’s, like, he survives, he makes a jump, or even if he gets into an accident, we get him to the hospital, and he’ll be fine. And then he gets out and he’s all right, and then we’ll do another jump. You know what I mean? So you never think, like, ‘This is the end.’ You’re just, like, ‘Ah, Ozz will be fine.’ Then we’ll either do another record or whatever until Ozz gets better. But truly it was just like he willed himself to hang in there long enough to knock that (final) show (at the Villa Park in Birmingham, United Kingdom) out. ‘Cause I was just saying, like, what happens if the show was scheduled to take place this month in August? He doesn’t make it. That’s what’s crazy about the whole thing. And you just always had that sense that he’s gonna be around forever, just kind of like Keith Richards and Mick Jagger and all the guys.”
When podcast host Jason Green noted that Osbourne‘s health issues didn’t keep him from making music in recent years, Zakk concurred. “Obviously until he get his health back, it was just, like, ‘Ah, just keep plugging away, man,'” he said. “And either you quit or you keep conquering and climbing. And he never had any quit in them. So, yeah, it was just, like, all right, well, then in the meantime, until you can get better, well, we’ll write and make records or whatever you wanna do, man. I mean, that’s what I just figured. It was, like, ‘Ah, I’ll see Ozz on Tuesday,’ and we’ll start working again or whatever.”
Last month, Zakk told Guitar World about the final text he received from Ozzy before the singer died. Wylde performed during the aforementioned “Back To The Beginning” farewell concert on July 5, and according to the guitarist, Osbourne reached out to him after the show.
“Everybody and their mother were in the backstage dressing room and I just wanted to give him a break,” Wylde said. “I figured we’d see him later on — the next day or whatever. But no. The last text I got from Ozz was saying, ‘Zakky, sorry, it was like a madhouse back there. I didn’t see you.’ He goes, ‘Thanks for everything.’ It was just us talking, saying, ‘I love you, buddy.’ That was it.”
Wylde added that the singer was “almost like an older brother” to him. “There was almost a 20-year age gap between us,” he told Guitar World. “With our relationship, there was the fun drinking — but if I ever needed advice, I could talk to him.”
Wylde also told Guitar World that his priority with Osbourne‘s farewell show was “making sure that Ozz was okay.”
Ozzy died on July 22 of a heart attack, his death certificate revealed. The certificate filed in London also said Osbourne suffered from coronary artery disease and Parkinson’s disease.
In February of this year. BLACK LABEL SOCIETY released a single, “Lord Humungus”. The song was a precursor of new album, due to be released on MNRK Heavy.
Stream “Lord Humungus”. below.
This past September, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY released a new single titled “The Gallows” via MNRK Heavy (formerly eOne Music).
Watch “The Gallows” below.
Wylde, renowned for his exceptional guitar prowess and commanding stage presence, continues to make a lasting impact with this latest release. “The Gallows” captures the dark, brooding essence of BLACK LABEL SOCIETY‘s catalog while infusing it with a renewed intensity that reflects the band’s evolution. “The Gallows” embodies the core of BLACK LABEL SOCIETY — raw power, emotional depth, and a commitment to pure, unfiltered hard rock and roll.
Wylde comments: “Berzerkers!!! Here’s a new BLACK LABEL song called ‘The Gallows’.
“What do you call a fake noodle??? An impasta!!!
“See You ALL at the Berzerkus on Saturday September 14th at Poconos Park, PA!!!”
“The Gallows” exemplifies what BLACK LABEL SOCIETY fans should expect, blistering guitar solos and lyrics that will spark the heart and soul of the heavy metal community.
This past April, Wylde confirmed to Scott Davidson of Chicago’s Rebel Radio 92.5 FM that he and his BLACK LABEL SOCIETY bandmates were working on the group’s next album. BLACK LABEL SOCIETY‘s twelfth studio LP will be the follow-up to “Doom Crew Inc.”, which came out in November 2021 via MNRK Heavy.
Regarding where BLACK LABEL SOCIETY was in the recording process as of five months ago, Zakk said: “Actually, when I get done talking to you, I’m going to [my studio] Black Vatican. I’m tracking some more stuff today right now. So during the times I’m home, I’ll be doing some recording and stuff like that for the next album. I’ve gotta pick my spot for when I’m home. Then [I] can do some recording, and then, before you know it, we’re back out on the road again.”
In a separate chat with Metal Mayhem ROC, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY drummer Jeff Fabb stated about the band’s next album: “I don’t know exactly when it’s gonna be released, but I heard some time in the new year. So I would assume that we’re gonna tour it. So we’re working on it right now. Actually. I’m about to go to [Zakk‘s] house in the next few days and finish up a few more songs that he wrote. And then, yeah, that’s pretty much it. We’ve got that show in September and then I would assume that we’re gonna hit the road at some point.”
BLACK LABEL SOCIETY will headline Zakk‘s inaugural music festival, Berzerkus, on September 14, 2024 at Poconos Park in Bushkill, Pennsylvania. Berzerkus will be co-headlined by outlaw country music’s Cody Jinks. Also scheduled to appear are CLUTCH, RIVAL SONS, BLACK STONE CHERRY, ZOSO (the ultimate LED ZEPPELIN experience),THE ATOMIC PUNKS (a tribute to early VAN HALEN) and THE IRON MAIDENS (the world’s only all-female tribute to IRON MAIDEN).
Three years ago, Wylde told the Morristown, New Jersey radio station 105.5 WDHA about the BLACK LABEL SOCIETY songwriting process: “The way it always goes, it’s always the music first and then a melody. And then I’ve gotta find out something I wanna sing about. So then I’ll write the lyrics. That’s usually always the way it goes. And then, when it’s all done, then the solos go on it. The painting’s all done, and the solo is the frame that goes on the thing. So you can sit back and look at the whole thing. That’s the way we pretty much always do it… I would just have a cup of coffee and just start writing riffs. You always get inspired by — for me, it’s always Mount Riffmore, which is CREAM, MOUNTAIN, [LED] ZEPPELIN, [BLACK] SABBATH, DEEP PURPLE… If you’re not getting inspired by the riffs those guys have created, it’s just like… So I’ll just go fishing and just start writing till you get to something you like.”
Wylde formed BLACK LABEL SOCIETY in 1998 and has kept the band busy in between touring and recording with Ozzy Osbourne, whose backing group he first joined more than three and a half decades ago.
BLACK LABEL SOCIETY‘s “Order Of The Black” (2010) and “Catacombs Of The Black Vatican” (2014) both broke into the top five on the hard rock album charts.
Since first joining Ozzy, Zakk has played on all of the BLACK SABBATH singer’s solo albums except for 2020’s “Ordinary Man”, including such classic efforts as “No More Tears” (1991),“Ozzmosis” (1995) and “Black Rain” (2007).
BLACK LABEL SOCIETY is:
Zakk Wylde – vocals, guitar, piano
John “JD” DeServio – bass
Jeff Fabb – drums
Dario Lorina – guitar
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