Zakk Wylde recently looked back on his time playing with Ozzy Osbourne, mentioning how the whole experience surpassed his dreams.
During a recent interview with Avenged Sevenfold’s Johnny Christ, Zakk was asked why he was the one who landed the gig with Ozzy instead of another guitarist. He jokingly replied it was just because he could do the dishes and the laundry:
“I think it was because [of] the way I could do dishes, laundry… And the way I [asked] if [Ozzy] wanted a tuck or no-tuck when I make a bed… That’s what got me over, because, let’s be real — it’s not the playing.”
Why Wylde Was Fired
Well, no one really knows, because Ozzy says he didn’t fire him. In an interview back in 2010, he said:
“I don’t want anyone to think for one minute that I fired him. I never fired him. He never left. There was nothing to leave. Because all he was doing was his gig and mine. It kind of got to us crashing into each other. But I had to let go, because it’s me rather than him.”
So, the Black Sabbath rocker didn’t fire him. However, he did say he was looking for a new guitarist some time before this statement. He said:
“Well, I’m getting a new guitar player as we speak and everyone has been saying to me for a long time, ‘Get Johnny 5!’ And I tried him at one time and I didn’t really give him a chance. We’ll see, I don’t know. I haven’t fallen out with Zakk, but Zakk’s got his own band, and I felt like my stuff was beginning to sound like Black Label Society. I just felt like I wanted a change. I’ve got a guy from Greece coming in, but I’m not going to say too much about it, cos I don’t know myself at this point.”
When Wylde was asked about this, he said it was a surprise to him too:
“I haven’t heard anything about this. Until I talk to the Boss I don’t know. I love Ozzy. I’m doing Blizzcon with him in August and supposed to finish up the cd in September….this is news to me.”
No Hard Feelings
Even with the miscommunication, they didn’t hold any grudges against each other. In a chat with Guitar World back in 2021, producer Andrew Watt explained that after his work on Ozzy’s 2020 album, ‘Ordinary Man,’ he was already working on a second album with the rocker. Besides his production duties on ‘Ordinary Man,’ Watt also took the lead as the primary guitarist on the album, sidelining Wylde.
Adding to this, Wylde confirmed in another chat that he wouldn’t be part of Ozzy’s next collaboration with Watt either. However, he made it clear that there are no hard feelings between him and Ozzy. He said:
