ZAKK WYLDE: There's No Such Thing As 'The Best' Musician

In a new interview with Music Is Win's "Guitar Villains" podcast, Zakk Wylde (BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, OZZY OSBOURNE) pushed back against the idea that certain musicians can be better than all the others, saying that most such polls are nothing more than popularity contests.

"When we say, 'Who's the best guitar player?' or 'Who's the best drummer?' or 'Who's the best singer?' or 'Who's the best…' whatever, right? When that debate always comes up, [it] is kind of a weird thing," he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "Even King Edward [Eddie Van Halen] always said, he goes, 'Music, it's not sports.' It's not a powerlifting meet where you know who the strongest guy is because, obviously, his numbers are the highest. Whoever benched the most, whoever deadlifted the most, whoever had the highest numbers wins the meet. Or sports — baseball game or a football game — there's a winner at the end of the game. But music, it's not who's the best; it's who is your favorite. It's like pizza — what's your favorite pizza? They're all good. They're all slamming. It's just, like, 'Do you like it just plain? Or do you like it with garlic and mushroom? Do you like it with pepperoni? Do you like it with sausage?' It's just like saying, 'What's your favorite [LED] ZEPPELIN record?' There is no favorite [record]; they're all good. They're all amazing, actually. It's like I'm wearing out 'II' for a while, so I'm listening to 'Presence' now because I haven't listened to that for a while. So, yeah, it really is the truth — it's what's your favorite, or whatever mood you're in for that day."

Earlier in the month, Wylde told Detroit's WRIF radio station that BLACK LABEL SOCIETY was in the process of recording the follow-up to "Grimmest Hits" album for a tentative November release.

BLACK LABEL SOCIETY's "None More Black" box set, containing remastered versions of all 12 of the band's original studio recordings on gorgeous color vinyl, came out in April. The box set comes with a hardcover 32-page photo book, chronicling BLACK LABEL SOCIETY's legendary career. It arrives in an indestructible black-on-black embossed collection box. It includes "The Song Remains Not The Same II", featuring reworked versions of the original songs.

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY spent a couple of years touring in support of "Grimmest Hits".

The band celebrated the 20th anniversary of its first album, "Sonic Brew", in 2019.

Zakk has been the on-again-off-again guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne since 1987, although he does not appear on the legendary heavy metal singer's latest LP, "Ordinary Man".