In the late 1990s, after being unceremoniously fired by Ozzy Osbourne via a “Dear John” letter and ghosted by Axl Rose for a potential Guns N’ Roses gig, Zakk Wylde found himself unemployed and desperate. He headed into the studio with drummer Phil Oni to record Black Label Society’s debut album Sonic Brew in a blur of booze-fueled sessions inspired by a Miami pub jukebox. When naming the band proved tricky, Zakk lifted the iconic black-and-gold label from a Johnnie Walker bottle for both the name and album art—prompting the whisky giant to sue, calling the band “classless” and too trashy for their brand. Forced to change the artwork, Wylde turned the chaos into the foundation of BLS’s biker-metal identity, complete with a skull-target logo that became a lasting symbol of defiance and heavy riffs.
