Zakk Wylde has opened up on time he came close to joining Guns N’ Roses, and revealed how the ill-fated audition to link-up with Slash and co ultimately resulted in his departure from Ozzy Osbourne’s band – and the formation of Black Label Society.
The Pantera electric guitar veteran recalled his experiences of jamming with GNR during a new interview with Billy Corgan, whose podcast is becoming something of a hot spot for high-profile tidbits. In the past, Gene Simmons has discussed Ace Frehley’s near-disastrous Kiss audition, while Corgan spoke about the differences between rock and “indie” guitarists with Richie Sambora.
With Wylde in the intervew chair, Corgan zoomed in on a lesser-known footnote in his storied career, which took place during the recording of Ozzy’s 1995 album, Ozzmosis. At the time, Guns N’ Roses were a guitar player down, and Wylde was on a list of potential recruits.
“I think Gilby (Clarke) had left the band and so Axl (Rose) was like, ‘Well, who are we going to get on guitar?’” Wylde recalls. “I guess Slash just threw around and my name came in the mix.”
It was Rose who reached out to him. The band was eager to test the waters with a guitarist who had previously been able to fill the sizable shoes of Randy Rhoads and Jake E. Lee in Ozzy’s band.
“I knew Slash when I first joined Ozzy, that’s when Guns were blowing up,” he continues. “I knew Steven (Adler) and then I obviously knew Matt (Sorum) from when he was with the Cult. So everybody kind of knows each other. Axl called me up. He was like, ‘Zakk, do you want to get together and jam?’ I was like, ‘Alright, yeah, we’ll see what happens.’”
Wylde met the group at a rehearsal space and started “jamming and noodling ideas”. He also recalls they went as far as “recording a couple of riffs”, one of which became The Rose Petalled Garden from Black Label Society’s debut LP, Sonic Brew.
After their jam, Wylde notes “nothing was materializing”, to the point where Ozzy was left quizzing him over his availability: “Are you going to do this thing with the fellas or are we doing this thing?” Wylde recalls Ozzy asking him. The guitarist, however, was equally in the dark about the situation.
“Nothing (with Guns N’ Roses) was happening,” he continues. “I remember Oz was getting ready to release the Ozzmosis album and getting ready to tour. Oz was like, ‘Zakk, sit down. I’m going to get Joe Holmes to come play for a little while and then we’ll see where it happens from there.’”
Ultimately, the GNR gig didn’t come through for Wylde, he was no longer “playing with the boss”, and the guitarist was left in a difficult spot. He needed another creative outlet to turn his attentions to.
“When we were doing Ozzmosisthere was this place called Bruise on 34th in Lexington,” he goes on. “The pub had been there since 1908. So, I would go after we got done tracking and I’d be drinking till six in the morning every night, hanging out at the jukebox.
“They had the Stones on there, Bob Seger, Neil Young, the Eagles, all this amazing mellow acoustic stuff. I remember just going back into my room with my acoustic and writing. That’s when I did (my solo album) Book of Shadows.”
After a short tour in support of the album, Wylde realized he “wasn’t ready to be a singer-songwriter yet”. He wasn’t, however, willing to accept that “the dream was over”, despite acknowledging that Ozzy and GNR were moving on without him. And so, he set about building Black Label Society from the ground up.
“I went from playing with Ozzy in arenas, stadiums, and festivals to playing in clubs with like five people,” he says. “There were no other eggs in my basket.”
History dictates that BLS would ultimately be a success, and Wylde would even later return to the Prince of Darkness – but his tale may have been very different if the GNR gig worked out.
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