‘He had the biggest heart’: Zakk Wylde remembers Ozzy Osbourne’s toughness and generosity

From the time he joined Ozzy Osbourne’s band in 1987 until Osbourne’s death in July, Zakk Wylde was not only the guitarist for the Prince of Darkness but his close friend and collaborator. Even when Wylde was off fronting his own band, Black Label Society, or doing his solo stuff, the two remained good friends.

Since Osbourne’s passing two weeks after the triumphant “Back to the Beginning” farewell show in Black Sabbath’s birthplace of Birmingham, England, Wylde has not done any in-depth media interviews about his friend. He talked about the show, but that was before Osbourne passed. On Tuesday, Paramount+ released “Ozzy: No Escape From Now,” a documentary that pays homage to the late godfather of heavy metal and features Wylde.

On Thursday, Wylde and Black Label Society are releasing “Broken And Blind,” the third single, but their first since Osbourne passed, off the group’s forthcoming album, set to drop next year. So, with the new material, which, according to Wylde, is influenced by Osbourne, Sabbath and all the music he loves, he sat down with The Times exclusively to remember his friend.

You are playing the Black Sabbath songs in Zakk Sabbath. Does anything surprise you when playing those old songs?

When we’re doing the Zakk Sabbath stuff, it never fails to amaze me, the simplicity of the songs. All these melodies and obviously Geezer [Butler’s] lyrics are amazing, but it’s just the simplicity of the meal. There’s not a lot going on. It’s just good. And you can’t describe it. Even with Sabbath and Zeppelin, stuff like that, it’s like, “What’s the name of the song?” Because it’s not like “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” where you’re repeating the chorus over and over, where it’s more of a pop type thing. This, it’s a riff, and then it’s a hooky riff with a cool melody over it. There’s an art form to that.

It’s probably not an accident that one of the songs that people responded to most from “Back to the Beginning” was “Mama, I’m Coming Home.”

I agree with you. Once again, it’s the simplicity of it all. Including the guitar riff.

I was lucky to spend a lot of time with Ozzy, and there was no one like him. He was very open with me about his substance abuse. He told me “Black Rain” was the first album he made sober, and it terrified him. But, at the same time, he had this childlike wonder and loved life and his family so much. How did this inspire you to be around this?

What always struck me was his fortitude to just keep going forward. The Sabbath thing, how upset he was when they broke up and they fired him, he was like, “What am I going to do now?” Even Ozzy said, “I guess I’ll get a job, the dream is over.” Then he gets a second shot at life with Randy [Rhoads]. And then Randy passes away. It’s like he’s up again, and then all of a sudden the rug gets pulled out from underneath him again. But to just keep plowing ahead, it’s unbelievable. I can’t tell you how many times onstage his voice would be banged up, and I’d be thinking at some point in the show he’s either going to go, “I can’t, we’re going to have to reschedule the show or cancel. I’m sorry guys but I can’t sing anymore.” And I’d be saying as many prayers as I can to the big guy to get him through it. And by the time we got to “War Pigs,” he crushed it. Like I said, I always feel like he was my hero for his toughness as well. Even down to the last show, he willed himself, like, “I’m going to do this show.” And he did it. He had that one thing alone, like, “We’re not going to quit.” And I told him, after the gig when I texted him, I was like, “Ozzy, you never quit, man. You did great.” So, yeah, without a doubt, man, it just is toughness alone.

With that toughness, though, he also had the driest sense of humor.

I remember we were down at rehearsals one day and then this guy comes walking in and I’m like, “Who’s that guy?” And we’re all like, “He has a briefcase with him.” Ozzy goes, “Oh, it’s a vocal coach.” And I go, “I guess, mom, meaning Sharon, just wants the best for you.” He goes, “Yeah, I suppose. It’s a little late in the game for a vocal coach, isn’t it?” [cracks up] Oh, my God. So hilarious, man. He always made fun of himself all the time. I always said it was a miracle any work ever got done just because we’d always be on the floor crying, laughing.

What are the things you take away most from him?

The toughness. If he was a fighter, a boxer, no matter how lumped up he was, he would just continue. But he also had the biggest heart in the world. He hated seeing people being upset and things like that. So, yeah, he had a heart of gold. And all the best qualities you could ask for in somebody — super giving, had a heart of gold and just tough as nails. And to carry on without a doubt. Those are all redeeming qualities. They’re just awesome.

For all his partying and all he saw, he kept that sense of wonder. Did you see that with him?

Yeah, the partying was hilarious. Because when I joined the band, it was still beyond silly. But it never got in the way of shows, and he would never drink before the gigs. There’s only one time in Japan where we got beyond blasted above the berserker radar. And I remember the next day, he was like, “Zakk, you got any beers?” I remember that was on the train on the way to the gig. I hooked him up, but aside from that, we were actually in the bathroom. I remember he was just like, “I’ll meet you in the bathroom.” Because I was just like, “What, are you trying to get us both fired?” Sharon was there with Mr. Udo, and he goes, “I’ll meet you in the bathroom.” So, I end up going into the bathroom and actually I’m in one bathroom stall. He goes into the other bathroom. He’s like, “All right, Zakk. I’m ready and I toss over a Kirin beer. He downs it in one [makes gulping sounds], slides the can back over like, “All right, Zakk, have a good show.” Just hilarious, man, and I’m just thinking, “If people only knew what’s going on.” It’s like we were 14 years old trying to sneak it from your parents. But that was his gift to himself, like, “After we get done with the show, now I can have a cocktail.” But yeah, no matter how lumped up he got it never got in the way of gigs.

It also seemed like he never got over the joy of playing live.

No, totally, he loved doing gigs. All you’ve got to do is just see the pictures of him, he’s always smiling, he’s always happy. That’s where he wanted to be.

He also seemed like the type who never took the crowds for granted or how excited people were to see him.

Oh, totally, man. He loved it, though. That’s why, he was just like, “I’m going to do this gig.” I would text Sharon. And I would just say, “Hopefully the game plan is we do this show, ‘Back to the Beginning.’ Then it goes over great. And then we just book a tour and then just have the chair, have the throne. So, it’s hydraulic. It goes over the audience, and it shoots out flames, bubbles. It does your taxes as well and does dishes and laundry.” But Sharon was cracking up too. I was like, “Man, I wonder if we’re going to do this gig” before it even happened because it was so far out, like a year. And then Oz was like, “Oh, man, my neck is still killing me. I can’t walk.” And I was just like, “Man, I wonder if this thing’s even going to get off the ground.” But he was just adamant about doing it.

You say you and Sharon would joke about it being a tour. Do you think he knew, though, that that was it?

No, I don’t think so. The way I always felt, all the things that I’ve gone through with them, it was always — if it was a setback or anything like that — it was more of a speed bump and it was just like, “All right, we’ll fix the flat tire on the truck and then we’ll just keep moving.” So, I think it was more like that, because I knew he still wanted to make records and things like that. But I was just thinking, “Who knows, man, hopefully if this thing goes over well, then we might be able to do some other shows or do select shows throughout the year.” Like these Ozzfest-type things, just so Oz can still keep doing gigs, but maybe not touring in the capacity of doing four shows a week or whatever.

Ozzy told me he should’ve not survived as long as he did. So, did he feel indestructible to you?

Yeah, totally. It’s just like with the Stones, you just always think they’re going to be there. I felt like that with us. Even when we were doing that show, I didn’t go, “Oh, this is the last time I’m ever going to play ‘Mama, I’m Coming Home’ with him or ‘Crazy Train’ with him or anything.” You’re in the moment anyways. You’re playing, so my concern was making sure he was OK. I wasn’t thinking about any of that, because it’s like you’re playing a game. You never think it’s your last Super Bowl; you’re playing and you’re playing to win. So, yeah, I didn’t think about it, and like I said, I’ve always been optimistic. I would always tell him, no matter how bummed he got, “Just keep doing therapy and keep doing everything you’ve got to do because what’s the option? Then you just quit in the corner, and you whine about it. Or you could do something about it, with therapy and hitting the weights and doing everything you got to do.” Like you said, there was no quit in him. So, that’s where we were at. I never thought like, “Oh, yeah, this was the last gig.” I didn’t think after we did the show, two weeks from now, he was gonna be gone. I wasn’t thinking that at all.

“He always made fun of himself all the time,” Wylde said of Osbourne. “I always said it was a miracle any work ever got done just because we’d always be on the floor crying, laughing.”

(Jen Rosenstein)

What did he say about Zakk Sabbath?

Just before we did “Back to the Beginning,” Oz was like, “Zakk, who’s playing harmonica on the ‘Wizard?’” I go, “That’s me. I actually took lessons from the guy who wrote it and performed it on the album.” [Laughs] He didn’t even know what I was talking about. And then I sent them some pictures of, like, when I first joined the band with the poofy hair, like I guess we were on some covers of Hit Parader or one of these magazines, Power Metal or something. I go, “Here’s a picture of me with my harmonica teacher.” Oh, my God, friggin’ hilarious.

What do you want people to remember about him?

Like I said, he had a heart of gold, man. It was that he had all the best qualities you’d want in somebody; his heart of gold, and then you couple that with him just being hard as nails and tough, no quit ever.