Guitarist Zakk Wylde: biography, creativity, collaboration with musicians

Zakk Wylde was famous for his work with the Prince of Darkness, but his influence and legacy extend beyond this collaboration. This man, outwardly resembling Torah (Only instead of the famous hammer, for many decades he held in his hands guitar), earned a reputation for "sheep in wolf's clothing". And it is not at all an insulting characterization, if you get into the essence...

It's just that Wilde, who exudes a menacing image of a brutal guitarist, is actually a very sweet and soulful man. His story is rich, and so is his work, about which there is much to tell!

Early influences

Jeffrey Phillip Wielandt was born in the American state of New Jersey on January 14, 1967. His first guitar was Gibson Firebrandwhich he received at age 8 and which he still possesses today. Perhaps surprisingly for a man so closely associated with all things heavy, his earliest influences were... soft rock.

"I remember listening to Elton John, and that was the first time the music gave me goosebumps. After that I wanted all his records! But that was until Black Sabbath made me fall in love with heavy rock!"

At 14, Wilde got a job selling musical instruments at the Silverton Music Store while he was in high school in New Jersey. However, he was so obsessed with guitar playingthat I could hardly concentrate on my studies.

"I listened to Jimmy Page and played at night, and during the day my scores were in school textbooks..."

But Zakk emphasizes: His reckless commitment to music did not stop him from passing his exams.

Getting to Know Ozzie

The period when Zakk played in his early bands was hard to call an easy one for conquering Olympus. In those days, musicians usually had to make their mark on music by playing live and impressing record companies, and that hard work and dedication left an indelible mark in philosophy Wilde, to which he adheres to this day.

"Back then it was simple: if you didn't have a record company contract by the time you turned 30, you might as well get a haircut and get a job where you'd be miserable, that's all! With so much social media today, it sounds ridiculous, because today anyone can make themselves known!"

Zakk continues:

"My philosophy is don't look for handouts. Just do it yourself. Graze like hell, because no one will ever do it for you. Only you can take it over the top. Otherwise you'll get smeared by life. It's simple!"

Wilde auditioned as lead guitarist and co-writer for Ozzy Osbourne after they met at the concert.

"He said: "Do you play guitar?" and I said yes. The rest is history..."

Around the same time, Wilde, in order to have something special, asked his friend to draw a spiral image of "Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo on his guitar, but when it was returned, it had a slightly different motif on it instead, which gradually grew. In 2000, his painted Gibson fell out of the back of a truck transporting the band's equipment between shows in Texas, and even though Wilde did everything in his power to find instrument dear to my heart, Gibson was considered to be lost forever...

Surprisingly, a few years later, a Zakk fan was in the pawn shop in DallasWhen he noticed Wilde's initials carved on the humbuckers of the same model, he bought the whole thing for $250. The fan then returned the instrument by contacting Wilde, who invited him and his family to his home and gave him one of his signature guitars as a thank-you gift. It is here that it is appropriate to recall the saying that has become a winged phrase Brad Paisley:

"Sometimes guitars find their way home like a lost dog..."

A Creative Journey from Ozzie to the Hanses

After breaking up with Ozzie in 1995, Wilde formed his own band, and also played guitar in Guns N' Roses. Zakk insists that he got there without any audition:

"It wasn't an audition, I met Slash when I first joined Ozzy. They just called me up and said, 'Do you want to get together and jam? After that, there was no talk about auditioning, it was something along the lines of "good to see you again" and "cool to have you back".

Wilde partially satisfied his desire to create his own sound, as well as to sing, by releasing solo albums "Book of Shadows and "Book of Shadows IIHe founded Pride & Glory in 1994 and the heavy metal band Black Label Society in 1998. There were many recordings, tours, associations on stage... When asked if he ever had "creative crisis"he replies that he finds inspiration almost everywhere.

"Any record can be a spark. For example, I often listen to Iommi. To me, he just writes these masterpiece Bach-Bethoven riffs in the heavy rock genre, and it's very cool!"

Returning to the topic Of the sheep and the wolf's skin - we offer to watch Wilde play his song "In the River."dedicated to his late friend Dimebag Darrell. And this moment gives a special insight into the great soul of the guitarist...

One of the guitars in Wilde's collection is RazorbackThe guitar was specially ordered for him by a friend of his shortly before his tragic death. Wilde only uses this guitar when he plays the song live. This is a man who, in the best sense of the word, could be called "a sheep in wolf's clothing.": and the love and devotion he creates among his fans and loved ones is evident to all.