Jeffery Phillip Wiedlandt (Born January 14, 1967 in Bayonne, New Jersey), better known as Zakk Wylde, is the lead guitarist in Ozzy Osbourne's band and has also found success playing lead in his own band, Black Label Society, who have been a part of the Ozzfest tour. He has done numerous "guest" appearances on many albums, having been featured on the debut album for Damageplan as guest vocalist, as well as Derek Sherinian's album "Black Utopia" alongside Yngwie Malmsteen.
Growing up, Zakk played locally with his first band called " Stone Henge" then later with local Jersey band " Zyris". He practiced guitar as much as 12 hours per day. He would get home from school, then play his guitar until the next morning when he left for school. He would then sleep through the school day. He was a close friend of the deceased Dimebag Darrell since 1993 exchanging guitars and admiration for one another as fellow guitarists. Dimebag had given Zakk one of his custom Dean guitars with the trademark bullseye design on it shortly before the guitarist's untimely death. Wylde dedicated the song " In This River" to Dimebag, citing that although the song wasn't originally written for him, the lyrics were fitting to the situation.
Wylde's film credits include Rock Star and the concert DVD Boozed, Broozed, and Broken Boned (Recorded at Harpo's in Detroit, MI. It is said that the place was left completely dry during the filming. It was the first time in the concert hall's history that all of the alcohol had been consumed. Zakk's favorite beer is Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, by the way). He has also done a comedy skit show alongside Jim Bruer "Crapshoot", which is now available on DVD.
Zakk started playing the guitar at the age of 15 and used to work at Silverton Music in Silverton, NJ. Years later, virtually unknown and working at local gas stations, 19 year-old Zakk became a well-known guitarist after landing the coveted role as lead guitarist and co-writer for Ozzy Osbourne. He sent Ozzy a demo tape in 1987 and was hired to replace the departed Jake E. Lee. Jake replaced the deceased Randy Rhoads, an idol of Zakk's (He even has a Randy Rhoads shrine).