Greek guitar virtuoso Gus G., who joined Ozzy Osbourne's band just under a decade ago, says that he is "totally cool" with the BLACK SABBATH singer getting back together with his longtime axeman Zakk Wylde. It was announced last April that Wylde would be rejoining Ozzy's backing group for all his upcoming solo show dates. Osbourne's touring lineup also includes Rob "Blasko" Nicholson on bass, Tommy Clufetos on drums and Adam Wakeman on keyboards. Gus, who played on Ozzy's latest studio album, 2010's "Scream", confirmed in a new interview with All That Shreds that he was told in advance that Ozzy would be working with Zakk again. "Sharon [Osbourne, Ozzy's wife and manager] gave me a call last year," he said. "She told me what's going to happen. I got a heads up, and I am totally cool with it. It's your band, and you do what you have to do. I was happy that I was there in the first place and [that] it lasted for [as long as it did]. My original deal with the Osbournes was for an album and a tour that was going to continue for 18 months and that 18 months became seven years. Technically, they didn't even have to call me after that [first] tour, so they kept calling me back. So it was all good, man. I'm lucky, and I'm blessed that I got to spend all the time with them and play all these shows and be a part of his band for all this time. I have terrific memories." Gus reiterated that there are no hard feelings between him and Ozzy. "There's a lot of history there with Zakk, and I understand that," Gus said. " Coming out of the BLACK SABBATH thing, which was huge, of course, he needed a big boost. Given the fact that it's a farewell-tour thing, it's cool that he's bringing Zakk back to the band. You cannot take those kinds of things for granted, honestly." According to Gus, he "wrote a couple of songs" for a possible new Ozzy studio album before his departure from Osbourne's band. "One of those songs, after they let me go from the band, I decided to use it for this record," referring to his upcoming solo album, "Fearless". "It's a song called 'Don't Tread On Me'." "Fearless" will arrive on April 20 via AFM Records. The follow-up to 2015's "Brand New Revolution" marks Gus's first release since exiting Osbourne's band in 2017. Wylde originally joined Osbourne's band three decades ago and backed the legendary frontman from 1987 to 1995, then again in 1998, from 2001 to 2004 and also from 2006 to 2009. His guitar playing can be heard on Osbourne's studio albums "No Rest For The Wicked", "No More Tears", "Ozzmosis", "Down To Earth", "Under Cover" and "Black Rain". The first album with Wylde went double platinum and "No More Tears" remains Ozzy's most successful album, going four times platinum in the United States with four Top 10 songs on the U.S. Billboard chart. Wylde also appeared with Ozzy on three live albums. Last year, Gus released a new studio album with his long-running band FIREWIND, "Immortals", after issuing two discs as a solo artist.
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