Ozzy Osbourne Remembered Zakk Wylde From a Polaroid Prior to His Audition
First impressions can be everything, but during a recent chat with Philadelphia’s 93.3 WMMR host Sara, Zakk Wylde revealed that it wasn’t actually his playing that made his first impression on Ozzy Osbourne, it was a picture.
As the story goes, Zakk Wylde’s audition tape was passed along to Osbourne through photographer Mark Weiss, but when Osbourne first met the musician he’s sworn that they had met prior. Sure Zakk had seen Ozzy play live before, but Osbourne’s recollection hadn’t come from spotting him at a show.
“When I met Ozzy, he goes, ‘Have I met you before?’ And the funny thing was my sister had taken a Polaroid of me at my mom and dad’s house when I sent the audition tape in,” recalls Wylde. “But Ozzy said, ‘Have I met you before?’ and when I look back on it, he remembered that my picture was the only Polaroid that he’d picked up. It was sitting on the kitchen table, and I guess Mom (Sharon Osbourne) had it. He picked it up and looked at and was like, ‘Ah, this kid must really love Randy Rhoads.’”
Wylde says, “He didn’t think anything of it. So when he looked back, he was like, ‘That’s where I’d ended up seeing you before.’ I figured maybe he had seen me at the Mezzanine level at the Spectrum when we were at the Bark at the Moon tour.”
Within the chat, Wylde recalls Ozzy calming him down, telling him to change his trousers and asking the guitarist to make him a ham sandwich going light on the Coleman’s mustard during his audition. And the sandwich part is something Wylde says he’s continued to do for Osbourne over the years.
Wylde was hired by Osbourne to replace Jake E. Lee in his band. He first appeared on Osbourne’s 1988 No Rest for the Wicked album and has appeared on eight Osbourne solo albums in total. Wylde has served several stints with Osbourne’s band and shared his dedication to the metal legend returning to the fold when needed.
Wylde is currently promoting his None More Black Black Label Society box set. However, new music appears to be in the works as Wylde revealed earlier this month that he had tracked 30 songs for an album later this year. Within the new interview below, Wylde revealed that he was preparing to enter the mastering phase for the next record.
Check out more of the chat below.