Ozzy Osbourne's 'Boot Camp' Begins In January, Says Zakk Wylde

Zakk Wylde tried to make the most of time at home with his family during the pandemic shutdowns, but now that touring is feasible again, he's ready to start rolling with both Black Label Society and Ozzy Osbourne.

Zakk's last show with Ozzy was Ozzfest at the Forum in Los Angeles on New Year's Eve 2018. The show went so well that Ozzy discussed making it a tradition. But 2019, 2020 and 2021 each brought a gauntlet of health challenges that have so far kept Ozzy off the road.

But the Prince of Darkness has been determined to regain his health and retire on his own terms. Zakk tells Q104.3 New York's Out of the Box with Jonathan Clarke that the plan right now is to fire it up again in January.

"Right now I guess we've got Ozzy boot camp in the beginning of January," Zakk says. "So you know Ozz is doing his Kegel exercises and taking his prenatal vitamins, so we can get him his bench and his deadlift and his squat numbers right back to Ozzy standard, world record numbers. We'll get him back up on the lifting platform, so we can get back out and let the shenanigans carry on."

Zakk himself will be entering camp in fighting shape. Black Label Society returned to the stage this summer and will launch a tour in support of their forthcoming 11th studio album, Doom Crew, Inc., which arrives on November 26, Black Friday.

The album title is an homage to BLS's road crew, which earned the Doom Crew moniker in the early days of the band.

"You know they're the first to bleed and the last to leave, so you know the power behind the throne," Zakk explains. "It was the running joke, you know, 'Oh, let the Doom Crew take care of it' or whatever. No matter how banged up you are ... it doesn't matter. If the crew doesn't make things happen then the machine doesn't roll."

Eleven albums deep with Black Label Society, Zakk happily admits that the band's sound has moved towards a dual guitar-attack since guitarist Dario Lorina was initiated.

"He's always getting more involved on everything," Zakk says of Lorina's work in the band. "When we did this album, [we've] been doing, more so, harmonies and stuff like the Allman Brothers or Judas Priest or Thin Lizzy, you literally need two guys in the band because the sound of the band is the guitar harmonies. So on this album, on the solos, I'm doing my bit, then Dario goes, then I'll answer back, then Dario answers. ...I mean, Dario's amazing."

Watch the full conversation via the video player above!

Get all of Black Label Society's tour dates here.

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Check out the music video for Black Label Society's "Set You Free" via the player below: