It has been confirmed. Longtime Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde has been canned in favor of 28 year old Greek guitarist Gus G. Gus has played in bands such as MYSTIC PROPHECY, NIGHTRAGE, ARCH ENEMY and DREAM EVIL. He will be making his debut performance with Ozzy at the closing concert of this year’s BlizzCon, which will take place August 21-22 at the Anaheim Convention Center. I don’t know what’s more lame. That Ozzy totally gave Zakk Wylde the big metal shaft or that there is actually an event called “Blizzcon”. All I can picture is a bunch of people staggering around yelling “SHARRON” and trying to operate a microwave oven.
Anyways, when asked why Ozzy was choosing to seek a new guitarist, he said, “I haven’t fallen out with Zakk, but Zakk’s got his own band, and I felt like my stuff was beginning to sound like (Wylde’s band) BLACK LABEL SOCIETY. I just felt like I wanted a change, y’know?”
Zakk Wylde actually seemed to have a totally different take on it and seemed to be completely caught off guard and surprised when he heard the “rumors” that Ozzy was looking for another guitarist. As reported by Blabbermouth, in an interview with a Eugene, Oregon radio station on July 29, Zakk slammed Ozzy over his Classic Rock comments, saying in part, “I’ve gotta be honest with you. The boss hasn’t even given me a phone call, so I mean… I’m just like… I don’t know what’s going on over there. Are we doing this thing or are we not doing it? . . . I mean, it’s like, dude, you don’t wanna play with me anymore? Fine. Play with whoever the hell you wanna play with. I couldn’t give a rat’s ass. Like I’m gonna get all jealous or whatever. But you know what?! Man up and give me a phone call and tell me what the hell’s going on.”
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it there that any attempt to make Ozzy a relevant act these days is a total waste of time. Maybe some young blood will give him a different flair but I don’t think there is anything that can be done to save his tarnished legacy. It will be interesting to see the exchange between Zakk and Ozzy over the next few months but if I were Ozzy, I’d be on the look out for Molotov cocktails or Zakk and his buddies rolling his house.
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