ZAKK WYLDE: 'The Doctor Said That If I Continued Drinking, I Would Bleed Internally'

Christopher Toh of TodayOnline.com's Poparazzi conducted an interview with Zakk Wylde (BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, OZZY OSBOURNE) prior to the guitarist's solo performance and question-and-answer session yesterday (Tuesday, December 1) at Singapore's Changi Prison Complex. An excerpt from the chat follows below.

Poparazzi: You've had an eventful 2009.

Zakk: Aside from the botched-up sex change operation? I mean, I got butchered man, And I paid top dollar for this s**t too. You think your hand's bad? You should see what happened down here!

Poparazzi: I heard you were in and out of hospital a lot.

Zakk: But it's always funny. I always laugh about it. It's always something. It could be with jazz musicians or something. It's shit you can't make up. Whenever this stuff happens, you have to laugh. It's par for the course. I've broken my back, ribs, messed my neck up, my shoulder's tweaked, then there were the blood clots, I've had two hernias, a throat operation… They just glue me together and ship me out on the road. And when I come home, the kids call me "Uncle Frank." They don't know who I am, I'm just some guy that comes around the house once in a while and gives them money. They'll go like "Uncle Frank!" and I'm like, "No, it's Daddy!" Then they'll go like, "Whatever man, just give me the money. I'm getting ready for college."

Poparazzi: And you had to give up booze. What's your poison now?

Zakk: I'm drinking like 6,000 cups for coffee. I'm probably going to have a stroke from drinking that much coffee! I like to chill and have a beer and watch the game with the guys, but the doctor said that if I continued drinking, I would bleed internally. So it's like, "Let's weigh the options here: Do we really need to go to AA for this? Internal bleeding or chill out?" So I was like, what the hell! I just boost the heroin intake and the pain pills.

Poparazzi: The other big thing that happened to you was that Ozzy Osbourne replaced you in his band with Gus G.

Zakk: He's jamming with Gus G., who's a great guitar player. Oz was like, "Zakk, you're doing the BLACK LABEL thing." Our relationship is bigger than music anyway, he's the godfather of one of my kids. And [if he ever] needed me, like if Gus had to go home because his wife was pregnant or something, I'd come out on the road and fill in for Gus until he can get back out.

Poparazzi: Well, you have three kids…

Zakk: I do? First I've heard!

Poparazzi: But you're on the road a lot. How does make you feel as a dad?

Zakk: The way I look at it: Even if I had a normal day job, I'd still have to go out to work. My two oldest are teenagers and my little one, Hendrix, is seven — and they'd probably rather be spending time with their friends than with me. But whenever I get any breaks, like if I'm home for a month or something, then I actually spend some quality time with them. When I'm on the road, the kids sometimes come out, but they have school so they'll come out for a bit and then go home. You make it work, whatever it takes.

Read the entire interview from Poparazzi.