Zakk Wylde Quotes

You’re never going to learn everything.

That’s why for Zakk Wylde’s Black Label Society the colors are black and white. There are no gray issues. Life is black and it’s white. There’s no in-between.

There are no rules in the entertainment business.

Every night I get up on stage, I love it. I never get like, ‘Oh, I’m bored, I want to go home.’ I never, ever get like that.

Whatever it is you love, and whatever it is that you want to do, that’s what you should be doing.

If I sit down with an electric guitar, what’s going to come out are Sabbath/Zeppelin type riffs, but if I’m sitting behind a piano late at night, I might write something like ‘Desperado.’ You’re not going to write ‘Desperado’ between a wall of Marshalls and thumping, crushing volume.

It’s pure Black Label. It’s about violence and booze. That’s all it is. There is no plan.

One day my wife went and saw the accountant and said she’s pulling the plug. She said you guys are done. I said, how bad can it be? 10 grand? She said you’re not even close. It came out to almost $50,000 in alcohol for two months.

Had an awesome time. You tell me to show up and all I have to do is drink beer, play guitar all day and I can lift weights and you’re going to pay me for this!

I’m a good Catholic boy.

We just done doing The Blessed Hellride tour and Ozzfest.

If you bleed Black Label and you’re going to be a man, you gotta get up there and do what you gotta do every day, relentless and as tired as you can be.

All my writing, I always do it in the studio, ’cause everything sounds good. The piano’s there, the keyboards; if you want to put strings on something… And everything sounds good when it’s in the cans; it sounds killer.

Around my house, I won’t even speak to my family unless they first address me by my official Berzerker name, Godred Crovan, Victor of Sky-Hill and Ruler of Man and the Isles. And now that I think of it, that’s probably why nobody speaks to me unless it’s time to feed the dogs or take out the garbage.

I had throat surgery. We had to check that out and make sure it wasn’t cancerous. I had a polyp on my vocal cord, so I had that taken out.

Live, it’s just the free flow and the energy and the excitement. It’s a one-off and you have that adrenaline for an hour and a half.

I don’t think it’s ever changed, whether its Frank Sinatra, Glenn Miller, Zeppelin, Guns n’ Roses or anyone today, the reason why you get into music is because you love it, and if you’re good at it, that’s a plus.

On the tour we get a case of beer on the bus every day from Ozzfest.

If I’m playing with Ozzy it’s just a guitar thing. But with the vocals I feel like I’m studying for the SATs.

I’m just worried that there’s enough beer on the bus. That’s the top priority at all times.

We were sitting on the bus one day and there were 5 of us hanging out. There was only one beer left in the cooler and we actually all took a little cup and split it. It was a pathetic day in a rock and roll when five grown men have to be sitting there sharing a beer.

Being in the studio, it’s more of a controlled environment, where you can be Salvador Dali and sit back and look at the painting. And you can go, ‘Ah, you know what? Maybe a little bit more red over here…maybe add some blue over here.’ You can sit back and look at the painting.

I have sold my soul. Just sign right here.

Every day you try to get better.

The tours are campaigns.

I screwed my knee up once because I fell off the stage.

You have to have passion for anything you do. Whether it’s sports, whether it’s music, whether you want to be Mother Theresa, you have to have passion for what it is you do, or what’s the point in getting up in the morning and getting out of bed?

I feel sorry for these kids in bands. Everything is so disposable nowadays. These kids don’t even get 15 minutes of fame, it’s like a minute and a half.

You never toot your own horn.

It’s pure Black Label. It’s about violence and booze. That’s all it is. There is no plan

If somebody says they really like my playing I say thanks a lot.

It’s just a natural progression. You’re a player, then you’re a coach, then you’re general manager for the team, and then the next logical step for me and you would be [to become] team owner.

You listen to Black Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio in it, and it’s not Black Sabbath. They should have just called it ‘Heaven and Hell’ right from the beginning. Because you listen to that ‘Heaven and Hell’ album, that doesn’t sound anything close to Black Sabbath.