Zakk Wylde has recalled the most “wholesome” moment from his time on tour with Ozzy Osbourne during a new interview.
The guitarist has worked with the metal pioneer and Black Sabbath frontman for decades now, joining him on his solo material and embarking on countless tours together. Now, in a new interview with Metal Hammer, Wylde has looked back at some of the best anecdotes he has from their time on the road.
During the discussion, Wylde was asked to share what moment with Osbourne he considers to be the most “wholesome”, to which he explained how there was a time when the two of them snuck off together to drink beer together in the bathroom.
“I remember we played the Budokan [Arena] in Tokyo. I’d always have a bag of beer with me, just in case anywhere we were going didn’t have beer,” the Black Label Society member began.
“So, Oz comes in the room after the gig. He goes ‘Zakky, Zakky… you got any beers?’ I go, ‘Yeah, but I’m not giving you one here. You’re going to get us fired! Mum’s [Sharon Osbourne] right across the hall – she’s going to come and see the two of us drinking, is that going to be good?’,” he added.
“[Ozzy] goes, ‘Alright, tell you what, I’ll meet you in the bathroom.’ So I go in the bathroom, I’m waiting. All of a sudden, I hear the door open. He comes in the stall right next to me, and I push a Kirin or Asahi under there. I hear the ‘psssst’ of the can, then ‘glug, glug, glug!’ He downs it in one, puts the can down, pushes it back under and goes, ‘Thanks, Zakk. I’ll see you at dinner.’”
He added: “We were like a couple of naughty school kids! It was hilarious!”
The comments come shortly after Wylde took part in a separate interview with EMGtv earlier this year, and revealed that his most “memorable” moment in the studio was when he heard his work with Ozzy Osbourne played on the radio.
“Actually hearing the playback and when it was done, and then I remember the first time I heard it on the radio,” he said, referring to the song ‘Miracle Man’ (via Blabbermouth).
“That was pretty monumental. It was the first song I ever wrote with the boss, and then the first song with the boss I ever heard on the radio. So, yeah, that was pretty monumental.”
Wylde’s comments about Ozzy come as the legendary frontman is set to reunite with his Black Sabbath bandmates this summer and play one final live concert at Villa Park in their Birmingham hometown on Saturday July 5.
There is also a stacked line-up of other major acts set to perform at the event, dubbed ‘Back To The Beginning’. These include Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Alice In Chains, Gojira, Smashing Pumpkins‘ Billy Corgan, Slash and Duff McKagan of Guns N’ Roses, and KoRn. It was then confirmed that Tom Morello will be performing and serving as the show’s musical director, and an announcement in February revealed that Guns N’ Roses, Tool and more had been added to the bill.
Zakk Wylde has since teased that the Prince Of Darkness may perform from a “throne that flies over the stadium” at the concert, while Ozzy himself told fans that he would only be “doing little bits and pieces” with Sabbath at the massive date amid his health issues.
When speaking to NME alongside Tony Iommi at Villa Park, Sharon explained that her husband was doing “really great” at the moment. She told us that Ozzy was feeling “very emotional” about the final Sabbath show, and that it was “what he wants”.
“He wants to say thank you to everybody. He didn’t have that chance because of his illness, but now he does have the chance,” she added. “He’s got Parkinson’s, which we all know, but he’s great and it doesn’t affect his voice.”
Iommi then told NME that the Sabbath gig would “do him good”, explaining: “That’s what it’s all about: he wants to get out and do something.”