ZAKK WYLDE: Doctor Told Me If I Kept Drinking I'd Be Dead By The Time I Was 50

July 7, 2010

Andrew Vaughan of Gibson.com recently conducted an interview with BLACK LABEL SOCIETY mainman and former OZZY OSBOURNE guitarist Zakk Wylde. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

On discovering that he had blood clots in his leg:

"The doc was like, 'You have, what, a drink a day? Six? 12? A case?' I'm like, 'It's a liquid diet.' I mean, I'd drink beer while lifting weights. That's BLACK LABEL SOCIETY style for you right there. But the doc told me if I kept this up, I'd be dead by the time I was 50. So I stopped drinking. No big deal."

On hearing that Ozzy Osbourne wanted a new guitarist to replace Wylde:

"I heard that, and to me, hey, the glass was half-full. It's like, thanks for letting me be there for 23 years! I'll always cherish that. What more could Ozzy do for me at this point? I look at it this way: instead of 24-7, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY is now my life 25-8."

On recording the new BLACK LABEL SOCIETY album, "Order Of The Black", in his home studio, a.k.a. the Black Label Bunker:

"I gutted the whole place, made it state-of-the-art, mixed and recorded there — the whole thing came out slammin'."

On how he would describe the new BLACK LABEL SOCIETY album:

"It's just whatever the songs are. I hate bands who are like, 'This is our heaviest yet'… so it's just picking and screaming now? Or, 'This is the fastest guitar playing I've ever done.' Then you're listening to notes. My favorite artists — ZEPPELIN, SABBATH, ELTON JOHN — the whole thing is songs. 'Back In Black' wasn't the heaviest or most vulgar AC/DC album — it has the best songs."

Read the entire interview from Gibson.com.

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