Zakk Wylde Once Pranked Ozzy Osbourne Hiding Sh-t in His Sofa
The album may have been called No More Tears, but there were plenty of tears to be had with a revenge shit-filled prank that occurred between Ozzy Osbourne's touring band at the time and the Prince of Darkness, according to a story shared by Zakk Wylde in the latest edition of Metal Hammer.
Pranks are a time honored tradition amongst band members and as Wylde tells it, when Osbourne let loose with some lethal farts around the crew and band members while recording the No More Tears album, the band decided to take action.
"Ozzy had these stink bombs he just kept letting off. You could use them to clear buildings, not rooms," recalls Wylde. "Ozzy would be there at the back, 'Sorry...' and we'd be gagging, 'Ozzy what the FUCK?!' They were worried he wouldn't be able to finish the record." Producer Duane Baron corroborated Wylde's account, adding, "Honestly, at first we thought he had a real problem. He'd drop them everywhere – the studio, on flights, we even went to Las Vegas for a weekend and he dropped them in a casino! He would terrorize us with them."
So feeling something needed to be done to remind Ozzy of the effect his gaseous ways had on those working around him, Wylde and drummer Randy Castillo devised their own prank. "Every day Oz had this couch that he’d sit on to watch World War 2 videos or whatever, So I take my enormous shit in this bag and cut a tiny little hole, sliding it in until it’s properly hidden up the back of the couch," recalled Wylde, then adding, "Meanwhile, Randy [Castillo] goes and takes a shit in some Tupperware, which he then stores in the fridge for later. I knew we had to get him back... so I took a shit in a bag."
So how did the prank go over? "Ozzy bellows down, ‘I was just trying to watch my World War 2 videos, thinking what is that horrendous stench?! I went to get something to eat, thinking we’d got some leftovers… they were fucking leftovers alright!,' recalls Wylde. "So fucking hilarious, man. There were shenanigans like that going on the whole time – it was a miracle anything got done! I can just see him pulling the shit from out the couch, thinking ‘how much do I pay these fucking scumbags to shit in my room – have I paid them to do this?!’"
The full interview with Wylde can be found in the new edition of Metal Hammer's print magazine which is on sale tomorrow.