DAVE GROHL Responds To ZAKK WYLDE's Threat

Former NIRVANA drummer/current FOO FIGHTERS frontman Dave Grohl has responded to Zakk Wylde's infamous 2001 quote in which the OZZY OSBOURNE guitarist threatened to "kick [Grohl's] ass" because he wrote this cheese-dick song for OZZ that Zakk had to play on during the recording sessions for OSBOURNE's "Down To Earth" CD.

In the November 2001 issue of Guitar World, Wylde said, "If I ever run into Dave Grohl, I'm gonna kick his fuckin' ass, because I think he sucks, and he wrote this cheese-dick song for OZZY that I have to fuckin' play on, and I'll never forgive him for that. FOO FIGHTERS is a fuckin' candy-ass girl band, but you've got that motherfucker submitting songs [to OZZY], too. I mean, none of these guys could play a Randy Rhoads solo if they tried. Dave Grohl? Fuck Dave Grohl! Let him get up there and play 'Mr. Crowley' — he can't fuckin' do it! And it's like, you're getting this guy to write songs for OZZY? Just because he played drums for fucking SHITVANA?"

Speaking to Sweden's premiere metal magazine Close-Up (web site) for its February/March 2004 issue, Grohl stated, "It's funny, 'cause a long time ago — this is maybe four years ago — I got a call from someone who said, 'Would you like to write some songs for OZZY's record?' I thought, 'Yeah, fuck that'd be amazing, great.' So I wrote a couple of riffs, recorded them and did demos. I thought it would be great if OZZY had a new record that was like old school. A really raw recording, really raw riffs with melody, but just fucking raw. So I wrote these two instrumentals and I sent them to him, but I never heard anything from them ever again. I never heard from the label, I never heard from Sharon and I never heard from anybody. So I thought they didn't like them. The song that KING DIAMOND sings [on the PROBOT album] and the song that Eric Wagner from TROUBLE sings, those are the two songs that I wrote for OZZY. They're not the exact same instrumental recordings, but those are the same riffs. That's what I was gonna hand to him. I was like, 'Here man, let's do this old-school shit,' but I never heard from him. . . I didn't think they'd use them so I thought 'Oh, cool, I'll just put them on this PROBOT record.' But those were the exactly same two songs and I thought they sounded kinda cool. But I can understand. If I were Zakk Wylde… He's an amazing guitar player, there's no question about it, the guy's an incredible guitar player. If my singer wanted other people to write the songs, I'd be fucking pissed too. I'd be really pissed off, I'd be like, 'Wait a second, I can write music. Why are you asking someone else?' So I understand why he's pissed off. But it is those two songs and I though those riffs were kinda cool. I think maybe they recorded one, but never used it. But I don't know which one they recorded, 'cause I've never heard from anybody."

In the same interview, Grohl spoke at length about the PROBOT project and the singers that were being considered for inclusion on the CD. Asked if he considered bringing former POSSESSED vocalist Jeff Beccera out of retirement, Dave responded, "Yes. We discussed and consider a lot of different singers. Chuck Billy from TESTAMENT and the vocalists from KREATOR (Mille Petrozza),DESTRUCTION (Schmier),UNLEASHED (Johnny Hedlund),PANTERA (Phil Anselmo),HIRAX (Katon W. DePena) and CANDLEMASS (Messiah Marcolin)."

In a separate interview, TROUBLE frontman Eric Wagner credited Grohl with bringing TROUBLE back together. "When Dave contacted me when my personal life was at a low point," Eric revealed. "Something was missing and I didn't know what. TROUBLE hadn't done anything in five to six years, so it was really Dave who got me back on track again. When he called, I didn't even know if I could still sing or write lyrics. But I'm pleased with the result. Dave is a genius."

In yet another separate interview, D.R.I. vocalist Kurt Brecht revealed that he only got the chance to sing on the PROBOT track "Silent Spring" after both Tom Araya (SLAYER) and Ronnie James Dio turned it down. Brecht also claimed that Grohl wanted to use the services of late EXODUS singer Paul Baloff. "I know that Dave wanted him on the record," said Brecht.