Zakk Wylde talks Ozzy, Beer, Axl Rose & His Beard

Front man and legendary guitarist for Black Label Society, Zakk Wylde, recently opened up about Ozzy replacing him, his drinking and breaking Axl Rose's record for making an album.

When it was revealed that Ozzy Osbourne was replacing Wylde for the recording of his new album Scream, it was a shocker for most of the metal community. Wylde has been with Ozzy for years and has been an integral part of Osbourne's success, not only in terms of live shows and sound, but writing the music as well. When asked if there is any bad blood between himself and Ozzy, Wylde doesn't think so.

"When I do interviews, people want me to say something bad about the Boss. But without him, there'd be no Zakk Wylde. There'd be no Black Label. I wouldn't have my own brand of coffee and hot sauces and beef jerky. I wouldn't have any of that without him. So yeah, I really hate the guy," said Wylde, laughing.

It had been rumored that Ozzy parted ways with the master guitarist because of his drinking habits.

"Well, he was also saying for a couple of years that he wanted to change things up. So I don't know. And whatever reason it was - my drinking, my beard, my weightlifting -- I still love Ozzy. He can't do any wrong in my eyes," he said.

If it were because of his drinking, although Wylde truly doesn't know the exact reason why, he's still given up delicious alcohol entirely to avoid anymore health scares.

"People ask if I'm on a 12-step program. No. I have a one-step program: I'm done, dude. I mean, I still go to bars. I hang out with my buddies and watch Monday Night Football at Hooters. I just drink the fake stuff. After all, what am I supposed to do for the rest of my life? Stay home? Everyone I hang with gets hammered out of their minds."

"But after I had the blood clots, the doctor told me that if I went out berzerking with the guys and was throwing down like nobody's business, I'd literally start bleeding out of every orifice -- my mouth, my nose, my ass, my eyes, my d***. It would be a tsunami of blood, dude. And I'd be dead. Right there. I'd be leaving Hooters on a f***ing gurney, dude. So it was easy to quit after that. And my friends just say, 'We lost a drinking partner -- but we gained a designated driver. Come pick us up, jackass," he said.

With a sober Wylde and a Zakk-less Ozzy on tour, the whole metal universe has been turned upside down. If a twist of fate were to ever occur and Ozzy ends up asking him to come back and play guitar, Wylde doesn't hesitate to answer the call to arms.

"Gus G. is the guy now, man. And he's playing his ass off, dude. But if he sprained his wrist in a bizarre whackathon mishap -- and I've had several of those injuries myself -- and Ozzy asked me to fill in for a couple of weeks, I'd say yeah," he said.

When Wylde isn't injuring himself in bizarre "whackathon mishaps" - he finds himself thinking about the oddest of situations. When he was asked if he has any goals, Wylde mentions taking a massive layoff and preparing the greatest comeback of all time.

"I want to break Axl Rose's Chinese Democracy record. It took him what, 14 years? I plan on going away for 20 years. That's because I went away for four years and won a Golden God award. So I figure if I go away for 20 years, I'll win a Nobel Peace Prize. The sad part is, I spend the majority of my nights thinking about this stuff. That's pathetic," he said.

Zakk Wylde is currently on the road in North America on the Berzerkus Tour in support of Black Label Society's newest album 'Order of the Black' with opening acts Clutch and Children of Bodom.