ZAKK WYLDE COMMENTS ON ROLLING STONE'S TOP 100 GUITAR PLAYERS LIST

Ever wonder what OZZY OSBOURNE/BLACK LABEL SOCIETY guitarist ZAKK WYLDE thinks of Rolling Stone's Top 100 Guitar Players List? Well, he spoke to sleazegrinder.com and here is some of what he had to say:

“Put it this way,” begins Wylde, his down-home, beer-soaked growl of a voice thundering through his massive beard, “when EDDIE VAN HALEN is number 70 and RANDY RHOADS is number 85, I mean, bottom line is I have to play Randy Rhoads’ shit every night. I idolize Randy Rhoads. I still got posters of Randy Rhoads in my garage right now, in my weight room. I carry them on the bus. I love Randy Rhoads to death man, so I mean, the whole thing is just like, I’ve got to play Randy’s shit every night. Last time I checked, JOAN JETT can’t play fucking Mr. Crowley, you know what I’m saying?”

Joan Jett checks in at number 87, just behind Van Halen and Rhoads.

“You’ve got to laugh at the thing,” Wylde continues. “I mean, JOE SATRIANI isn’t in there. STEVE VAI isn’t in there. YNGWIE MALMSTEEN isn’t in that fucking list. SLASH isn’t in there. They are some of the sickest guitar players that have ever walked this planet. I mean, I’m a guitar player. Do you know how good fucking Yngwie is? It’s beyond fucking sick. The fact that Yngwie isn’t in it is just fucking mind-boggling to me. People can say what they want about Yngwie, but it’s just like naming the 10 greatest singers of all time and not putting Pavarotti in it, you know what I’m saying? Yngwie is a virtuoso.”

“I mean, I dig the WHITE STRIPES, I think they’re fucking cool as fuck, I mean they’ve got balls from hell, you know what I’m saying?” says Wylde. “Even KURT COBAIN. I dig Kurt. Great songwriter. Great voice. Great records. But I mean, it’s just like, he’s above Eddie Van Halen? Jack White, what, this is his second fucking album? And he’s number 17?”

The list gave top honors to the legendary JIMI HENDRIX, another of Wylde’s idols and while it’s impossible to downplay Hendrix’s contribution to the guitar, Wylde believes Hendrix’s number one status is a slight miscue.

“Obviously Jimmy Hendrix is going to be the patron son of guitar, like Babe Ruth. No matter who hits more home runs than The Babe, The Babe is going to be, you know, The Babe. But the thing is, Jimi Hendrix couldn’t play Spanish Fly or Eruption. Technically. I’m telling you. Flat out. Just couldn’t do it. Jimi got a bunch of gear that nobody ever had before, you know what I am saying? So, he was able to do it before anyone else, and I understand that, but Eddie brought it to a whole other level technically.”

With Hendrix technically disqualified, Wylde’s choice for the greatest guitarist of all time becomes quite evident.

“As far as I’m concerned, Eddie Van Halen should be number one. And then Randy Rhoads would have to be in the top three or top five. He’d have to be.”

Read sleazegrinder.com's entire interview with Wylde here.