Zakk Wylde

Zachary Phillip Wylde[1] was born Jeffrey Phillip Wielandt in Bayonne, New Jersey, on January 14, 1967.[2] He is of Irish descent. He started playing guitar at the age of eight, but did not become serious about it until his early teenage years. At the age of 14, he worked at Silverton Music in Silverton, New Jersey. He grew up in Jackson, New Jersey, where he attended Jackson Memorial High School, graduating in 1985.[3] He has stated that he often played the guitar almost non-stop between coming home from school and leaving for school the next morning, then be completely exhausted during school the next day.[4]

Wylde in November 2006

Wylde played locally with his first band Stone Henge, then later with local New Jersey band Zyris. Later, he auditioned for lead guitarist and co-writer for Ozzy Osbourne. Wylde was hired to replace Jake E. Lee, who replaced Brad Gillis, who had himself replaced the deceased Randy Rhoads. Rhoads remains Wylde's foremost guitar-playing and stagecraft influence.[5]

Wylde gravitated toward a particular Les Paul guitar, which has become known as "The Grail"; his bullseye-painted 1981 Gibson Les Paul Custom. Wylde lost the guitar in 2000 after it fell from the back of a truck transporting equipment as he was travelling between gigs in Texas. Rewards were offered to anyone that had information about the guitar. Wylde and The Grail were reunited three years later when a fan bought it at a Dallas pawn shop and saw the initials "Z.W." carved into the humbucker pickups backs. He contacted Wylde's former webmaster Randy Canis to arrange its return to Wylde. Grateful, Wylde gave the fan his signature model in exchange.[4]

In 1995, Wylde auditioned for Guns N' Roses.[6][7][8] Wylde was replaced in Osbourne's band by Joe Holmes from 1995 until his return in 2001. In January 2006, Wylde was recognized at the Hollywood Rock Walk of Fame, featuring his handprints and signature, in recognition of his successful career as a musician and his contribution to the music industry. The event was open to the public and many rock celebrities were present, including Ozzy Osbourne.

For a time in the mid-2000s he contributed a monthly column entitled "Brew-tality" for a guitar magazine, discussing his techniques and equipment, as well as transcribing riffs and solo sections. After auditions in 2004/05, Ozzy Osbourne announced Wylde as the official guitarist for his album Black Rain, which was released in 2007. On stage with Osbourne, Wylde has been credited for lending a high level of energy and passion to performances.

Black Label Society headlined the second stage at the 2006 Ozzfest, with Wylde playing double duty with Ozzy Osbourne on certain dates.[9] He also joined Osbourne for the Ozzy and Friends Tour in replacement of the Black Sabbath tour scheduled for the summer of 2012, playing a range of European dates including Graspop Metal Meeting in Belgium.[10]

Wylde played a guitar solo on Black Veil Brides' cover of Kiss' "Unholy", on the 2011 EP Rebels.[11]

Wylde at Wacken Open Air 2015

Since 2014, Wylde has led a Black Sabbath cover band called Zakk Sabbath, handling guitar and vocal duties, joined by Rob "Blasko" Nicholson on bass and Joey Castillo (Danzig, Queens of the Stone Age) on drums, who replaced original drummer John Tempesta. JP Gaster (Clutch) occupied the drummer's seat in between, in September 2017.[12] The band tours intermittently, and released a single, three-track vinyl-only live 12", in 2016.[13]

Wylde, Steve Vai, Nuno Bettencourt, Yngwie Malmsteen, and Tosin Abasi were featured on the Generation Axe tour in 2016, 2017, and 2018.

Wylde joined Ozzy Osbourne's band for a select number of dates during Osbourne's 2017 summer tour, and then performed as part of the No More Tours II tour.[14]

Wylde and his wife, Barbaranne, have four children: Hayley Rae, Hendrix, Sabbath Page, and Jesse.[15] Ozzy Osbourne is Jesse's godfather.[16] Wylde is a Roman Catholic[17] who has described himself as a "Soldier of Christ".[18]

Wylde was a close friend of fellow guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott and dedicated the song "In This River" to Abbott after he was murdered on stage in 2004.

In August 2009, Wylde was hospitalized due to blood clots[19] and was subsequently forced to cancel his tour with Mudvayne and Static-X.[20] After his hospitalization, he stopped drinking alcohol.[21]

As of 2011, Wylde has partnered with Blair's Sauces and Snacks to produce "Berserker" hot sauce and several variations.[22] He also promotes Death Wish Coffee via his Instagram page,[23] as they have used his name in marketing their line, "Odinforce Blend".[24]

Wylde is known for his use of Gibson Les Paul Custom model guitars, equipped with EMG -81 and -85 active pickups, with his signature black-and-white "bulls-eye" graphic on them, a design he used to differentiate himself visually from Randy Rhoads – who was also frequently identified by his cream-colored Les Paul Custom, the guitar Wylde has used since he was 12 years old. The "bulls-eye" paint job was originally supposed to look like the spiral from the Alfred Hitchcock movie Vertigo, but when it came back incorrect from the paint shop, he liked the result and decided to keep it.[25] One of Wylde's favorite stage guitars is a GMW RR-V, a model that is famously known as the "Polka-dot V" Created originally by luthier Karl Sandoval of California, used by Randy Rhoads, often mistaken as a custom Flying V.

Wylde performing in April 2005

Wylde's signature Les Pauls include a red flame-maple bulls-eye model, a black and antique-white bulls-eye model, an orange "buzz-saw" model, the pattern on which was inspired by a design on a Zippo lighter,[26] and a "camo" bulls-eye model with mother of pearl neck inlays and a green camouflage paint scheme. His original bulls-eye Les Paul was purchased from one of the owners of Metaltronix Amplification. Metaltronix was building a one-off live rig for Wylde that was designed around one of the owner's guitars, a creamy white Les Paul Custom with EMG pickups, which would later become known as "The Grail". Wylde has a custom Dean Splittail with a mud splatter bulls-eye graphic, as well as a signature Splittail shaped Gibson model called the "ZV". Another Dean in his collection is a Dime series Razorback with custom Bulls-eye graphics ordered for him specially by Dimebag Darrell shortly before his murder in 2004; since receiving the guitar, he has only ever used it on stage to play the song "In This River", Zakk's personal tribute to Dimebag.

In practice, Wylde uses Marshall MG Series practice combos ranging in wattage levels from 10-30W during tour/private use especially in hotels and buses. He has also been known to use Marshall Valvestate combo amplifiers. Wylde has an extensive relationship with Marshall Amplification due to his love for their amplifiers, both solid state and tube-driven. Live, Wylde exclusively uses Marshall JCM 800's with twin 4 X 12 Cabinets loaded with EVM12L 300W Black Label Speakers. His usual signal path consists of his guitar > (on stage pedal board) Dunlop Wylde Wah > Dunlop Wylde Rotovibe > MXR ZW Phase 90 > MXR Wylde Overdrive > MXR Carbon Copy Delay > (to a back stage pedal board) > MXR EVH Flanger > MXR Black Label Chorus > split signals, one to each distorted amp into the High Gain input.

A detailed gear diagram of Wylde's 1988 Ozzy Osbourne guitar rig is well-documented.[27]

At the 2015 NAMM Show, Wylde announced his new company called Wylde Audio and provided a preview of his new line of custom guitars and amplifiers.[28] Currently he now is seen playing Wylde Audio equipment almost exclusively.[29]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Zakk Wylde.

• Official website
• Black Label Society official website
• Zakk Wylde Video Workshop on bonedo.de (in German; videos in English)