Zakk Wylde was born Jeffery Philip Wielandt to a Mr. and Mrs. Jerome Wielandt on January 14, 1967 in Bayonne and raised in Jackson, New Jersey. He also has a sister, Amy. Zakk was given the nickname “Flip,” short for his middle name Phillip, by his dad. This is what friends and family called him. Zakk began guitar at the age of eight, only to quit a short time after due to lack of interest. Zakk then attended Jackson Memorial High School were he then picked up the guitar again at age 14. He began taking lessons from his high school football coach’s son, LeRoy Wright. And later studied classical guitar with a guy from Freehold, NJ, and later with a guy in Manhattan. Zakk formed his first band “ Stone Henge” playing songs at parties like Ozzy’s “Bark at the Moon” and other songs by Black Sabbath and Rush. It was at that time when Zakk started dating a classmate named Barbaranne Caterina, who would later become his wife.


Zakk had joined up with Ozzy at the age of 20, in May of 1987. It was then he was given the last name “Wylde”, which he was called for obvious reasons. Ozzy introduced Zakk as his new guitarist at the Hard Rock Café in New York City, on Dec.15, 1987. Zakk Wylde made his debut with Ozzy Osbourne on album in 1988 with "No Rest For The Wicked." Zakk quickly became a big name in the guitarist community, due to his instantly recognizable guitar sound and style.

On August 1st, 1993, Zakk Wylde got to fill-in for Dickey Betts in the Allman Bros. Band for a show. This show is heavily bootlegged and is an amazing show. Everytime someone mentions Zakk Wylde's numerous bands, the Allmans are always brought up, but in actuality, he only did one show with them.


On January 31, 1998, the original Pride & Glory band reunited for a one-off reunion show at the Whiskey in Hollywood, CA. This momentous occasion was beleived to be bootlegged, but no video has turned up anywhere.


"Alcohol Fueled Brewtality Live", BLS' live album was recorded in October of 2000, and was released on January 16th, 2001. Black Label Society was added to Ozzfest 2001 that summer as the main stage opener. Superterrorizer was recorded at one of the Ozzfest shows and added to the live Ozzfest 2001 cd; the track featured an intro which later became the song "Battering Ram." Steve Gibb left the band mid-Ozzfest tour, and was replaced by former Ozzy/Alice In Chains bassist Mike Inez. Mike Inez had to fly back to California because he had obligations with another band, and the bass tech, Frey Theiler filled in on a few dates towards the end of Ozzfest.

Zakk recorded a new album with Ozzy in the Summer/Fall of 2001, but did not write any of the tracks for it. "Down To Earth" was released on October 16th, 2001, and Ozzy and Rob Zombie toured together as the "Merry Mayhem" tour.

Black Label Society are currently on the mainstage of Ozzfest 2002, with Robert Trujillo, also Ozzy's bassist, playing bass for them. You can also catch Zakk playing with Ozzy's band as well.