Overview
Wylde was born Jeffrey Phillip Wielandt on January 14th, 1967 in Bayonne, New Jersey. He began playing guitar at the age of eight, although did not start taking serious lessons until he was 14. After this, however, he began to progress extremely quickly and by the age of 17 had already been able to master a variety a complex songs by skilled bands such as Black Sabbath, Rush, Led Zeppelin, and most notably 'Bark at the Moon' by Ozzy Osbourne. He began writing his own material with his band 'Zyris' at the age of 18 and quickly gained a name for himself as an extremely talented and versatile musician. At 20 Wylde auditioned for the part of Ozzy Osbourne's new guitarist, promptly got the job, and the rest is history.
Trivia
- Wylde is famous for using oddly patterned "bullseye" guitars, decorated with a series of concentric circles. He apparently adopted this pattern to differentiate himself from Osbourne's previous guitarist, Randy Rhodes, who used the same model and color of guitar.
- Wylde reportedly got the idea for his stage name from British pop singer Kim Wilde, while watching one of her music videos on TV.
- According to Ozzy, Zakk "plays louder than Satan"
- Wylde is actually a big fan of country and southern rock and unusually implements several country techniques into his style, including finger-picking and slide.
- Wylde has been in increasingly poor health recently and was forced to cancel his tour in August 2009, due to blood clots in his leg.
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