Zakk Wylde played with Ozzy Osbourne for over 30 years, playing on six Ozzy Osbourne studio records, and three live ones. Osbourne‘s first solo record was recorded in 1980, and Wylde came into the picture in 1988. So, it goes to show how long, and arguably how strong, the pair’s bond was, further proved by the fact that when Wylde received the news while on tour with Pantera, the band cancelled two dates and rescheduled three dates not only out of respect, but to allow Wylde the proper time to grieve a friend of three decades.
Since then, Wylde hasn’t been too tight-lipped about how Osbourne‘s death has impacted him. “It was definitely beyond just us playing in a band together and making music,” Wylde told GuitarWorld in July of this year, right after Osbourne‘s passing, “I have my father, who was a World War II veteran; and then Ozzy, who was almost like an older brother. There was almost a 20-year age gap between us.” Further on in the interview, Wylde elaborated that it was indeed a familial-like relationship: “Ozzy is the godfather of our oldest son. Whether I was playing with him or not, if Sharon called me and my wife up and said, ‘Guys, can you watch the house while we’re away on a business trip?’ I’d do it. It’s like, ‘If you need me to bring milk and eggs over, I’ll do it.'”
With one last text after Back To The Beginning, in which Osbourne told Wylde, “‘Zakky, sorry, it was like a madhouse back there. I didn’t see you.’ He goes, ‘Thanks for everything.’ It was just us talking, saying, ‘I love you, buddy.’ That was it.” Wylde didn’t end up saying goodbye to him that night, because “I figured we’d see him later on – the next day, or whatever. But no.”
And in a more recent interview with NJ.com – New Jersey is Zakk Wylde‘s home state – Wylde explains a bit more behind the mentality, saying “I wasn’t thinking when we were doing the show that this was the last time I’m going to be doing ‘Mama, I’m Coming Home’ with the boss or this is the last time I’m going to play ‘Crazy Train’ with him or anything like that,” Wylde said. “I was just going, ‘Let’s do this and let’s have a good time,’ like always.”
It could have partially been due to the fact that Osbourne had been texting Wylde album ideas, “He was texting me, ‘Zakk, let’s do another record. Because I really loved it when you were going through your Allman Brothers, Skynyrd phase when we did ‘No More Tears,’ it’s heavy but it’s more melodic, it’s not pummeling heavy.’ So I said, ‘Alright Oz, whatever you want.'”
A man who pushed himself to have one last show, it wouldn’t have been that surprising to see Ozzy constantly pushing himself to do one last thing, always. Hell, he even completed a biography and two documentaries before he died. Him thinking of another album isn’t a far stretch. However, he was, and always will be, a fucking legend.
Want More Metal? Subscribe To Our Daily Newsletter
Enter your information below to get a daily update with all of our headlines and receive The Orchard Metal newsletter.
