Given Ozzy Osbourne’s legendary reputation for wild lifestyle, being on the road with the Prince of Darkness could be seen as either an unforgettable adventure or pure chaos, depending on one’s tolerance for mayhem. Rockstars may play by their own rules, but even they have to be discreet sometimes—especially when Sharon Osbourne is keeping an eye on them. Regarding Zakk Wylde, who has spent years as Ozzy’s trusted guitarist, the experience has been nothing short of a blast—filled with stories worth telling.
During an interview with Metal Hammer, Wylde was asked to recall his most “wholesome” moment with Ozzy. Zakk reminisced about a time when he and Ozzy snuck into a bathroom to share a beer, calling it the most “wholesome” moment he’s ever experienced with his longtime bandmate and boss. The memory he shared involved not just the two of them, but also his trusty emergency bag of beer, which he always carried on tour.
He said (via Guitar): “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.”
“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 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,” Zakk continued. “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.'”
“We were like a couple of naughty school kids!” Wylde admitted. “It was hilarious!”
Earlier this year, in February, Zakk was asked to name his “most memorable recording studio moment.” In answer to that question, he recalled recording “Miracle Man” as his favorite studio moment with Ozzy, though he also highlighted the significance of being involved in creating classics like “No More Tears“, “Mama, I’m Coming Home“, as well as Black Label Society’s “Suicide Messiah” and “Stillborn“.
He said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth):
“But, no, for me, I guess it would have to be [Ozzy’s] ‘Miracle Man‘ or anything like that. Actually hearing the playback and when it was done, and then I remember the first time I heard it on the radio. So I’d have to go with that. I mean, that was pretty monumental. It was the first song I ever wrote with the Boss [Ozzy] and then the first song with the Boss I ever heard on the radio. So, yeah, that was pretty monumental.”
“But I mean, obviously, ‘No More Tears‘ and ‘Mama I’m Coming Home‘ and everything like that, and hearing those. But then, like with the Black Label [Society] stuff, whether it’s ‘Stillborn‘ or ‘Suicide Messiah‘, any of those. And then even up to the new one, when I’m doing ‘The Gallows‘.”
