Zakk Wylde on Engines of Demolition track 'Ozzy's Song': 'We had to end the record like this'

Black Label Society's new album, Engines of Demolition, concludes with a track titled "Ozzy's Song," dedicated to Zakk Wylde's former boss, Ozzy Osbourne. The guitarist tells Revolver magazine about penning the tribute to the late Prince of Darkness.

"We laid Ozzy to rest, and then I flew back out and we played Jones Beach [Theater in Long Island, New York]. That was the first Pantera show after laying Ozzy to rest," Wylde recalls. "I was having Ozzy flashbacks because the last time [Ozzy and I] played there it was raining and it was packed. I remember the first 30 rows, everybody was knee-high, thigh-high, in water ... I’ll never forget that."

"When the Pantera celebration run ended, I came home and sat in our library here at the house and I was looking at one of Ozzy’s books that we have," he continues. "I was just looking at him, and I listened to the tune, and I wrote the lyrics right there."

According to Wylde, it was his girlfriend who named the track: "We’d keep listening to it in the truck. And every time, [she] would say, 'Babe, put on Ozzy’s song again.' She just kept referencing it as 'Ozzy’s Song.'"

"So, I was like, 'I’m just going to call it "Ozzy’s Song" because that’s what it is,'” he notes. "Obviously, we had to end the record like this — [it had to] be the last song."

The song's video includes footage and photos of Ozzy thought the years. "People like Ozzy, these iconic figures, become part of everybody’s life," Wylde notes.

"Ozzy was such a huge part of so many people’s lives and touched them in a positive way," he adds. "That’s what made Ozzy so special."