Zakk Wylde Shares Defining Moments That Made Him Pick Up the Guitar

We all know Black Label Society viking Zakk Wylde is a serious shredder. His heavy riffs and endless solos remain imprinted on our brain whether it’s a track off their latest disc ‘Order of the Black’ like ‘Crazy Horse’ or older favorites ‘Demise of Sanity’ and ‘Stillborn.’ These days Black Label Society are showing their mellower side with their forthcoming DVD ‘Unblackened’ (due Sept. 24) but make no mistake, even though it’s acoustic Wylde still offers blistering solos.

Noisecreep recently had the chance to catch up with the iconic guitarist at a media event in New York City and he spoke to us about a significant person who influenced him to pick up a guitar.

“A defining moment for me was when I took guitar lessons from my teacher Leroy Wright. To actually see someone physically playing all these songs -- ‘Crazy Train’ or ‘Purple Haze’ -- it just looked so interesting. I just looked at the guitar as a world of possibilities and it’s been that way ever since,” says Wylde.

The axeman reminisced about some of his favorite bands that also served as an influence in his style of playing. “It’s amazing when you’re a kid how certain things leave lasting impressions on you forever," says Wylde. "It was that and all of the music I loved when I was 13 years old, so when I hear Randy Rhoads it just brings me back to how awesome it was.”

Wylde concludes, “I just remember learning that stuff and how killer those records were. Listening to Sabbath and Zeppelin it just reminds me of great times.” Now the guitar great and the rest of his doom crew in Black Label Society are making their own killer records that will influence a brand new generation of guitarists.