Zakk Wylde was the latest rock star to sit down for a conversation with Ryan J. Downey at the Musicians Institute. During the hour-long discussion, Zakk raved about meeting lifelong hero Elton John, a fan who chewed through one of his guitar cables, what it’s like writing with Ozzy Osbourne and more.

Two of the most important artists from Zakk’s childhood are Black Sabbath and Elton John, so when Sharon Osbourne organized a hang with Zakk, the Prince of Darkness and the Rocketman, Wylde was in heaven. "I actually had a book my parents got me for Christmas. It was from 1975. I actually got him to sign it," Zakk recalls. "I’m sitting there looking at Ozzy and I’m looking at Elton John. I’m going, ‘This is f****** insane, man. This is beyond Fonzie cool.'"

"Booze — it’s a hell of a drug," Zakk says while telling the story of a hammered fan treating his guitar cable like a piece of licorice. Zakk has a wireless rig these days, but in his analog days, he had a metalhead version of Jaws on the line. "Stevie, who takes care of the fiddles, he was right behind me and he’s pulling my cable. I couldn’t move. He’s pulling it and pulling it and then the guitar goes out. I figured I got unplugged… He gets to it. Somebody just chewed right through the guitar cable. Bit right through it, man."

According to Zakk, Ozzy Osbourne comes up with all his best stuff on the fly. "The first thing he sings is always it. He never usually sings something and goes back and he’s like, 'I’m not happy with that.' 99, 98 percent of the time, the first melodies the comes up with are crushing." Check out the full MI interview below:

Zakk Sabbath will hit the road once again in August. For the full list of North American dates, click here. You can also get the 20th anniversary edition of Black Label Society's Sonic Brew over at eOne.

You can check out the full interview with Zakk here.

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