At the tender age of 19, Zakk Wylde became on overnight celebrity by taking over lead-guitar duties in Ozzy Osbourne's band and capably filling the Sasquatch-sized shoes of his predecessors, Randy Rhodes and Jake E. Lee. After a number of years ax-slinging for the self-proclaimed Prince of Darkness, Wylde departed after determining that Ozzy had grown soft around the edges. When Wylde returned to center stage to front his own band, Black Label Society, he was playing harder than ever. And after nearly a decade on his own, Wylde hasn't let up a bit. If anything, he's gotten more cantankerous, pounding out live sets that practically dare you not to mosh and growing a beard that's gotta be the envy of the Grizzly Adams fan club. With a new album, Mafia, in stores and an anti-Bush single, "Suicide Jesus," on the radio, Wylde must be feeling pretty good about things. But he's probably not; frankly, that just wouldn't be metal.
