ZAKK WYLDE Says Artificial Intelligence In Music Is ‘Fine’, But It ‘Can Never Replace The Real Thing’
Publish Date: 2026-02-08 10:26:00
Source Domain: blabbermouth.net
During a January 28 question-and-answer session at the HMV store on Oxford Street in London, United Kingdom, Zakk Wylde weighed in on a debate about people using an A.I. (artificial intelligence) music generator as a tool to create melodies, harmonies and rhymes based on artificial intelligence (A.I.) algorithms and machine learning (M.L.) models. The BLACK LABEL SOCIETY frontman and longtime Ozzy Osbourne guitarist said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “A.I. is fine. It would almost kind of be like if me and you were sitting around going, ‘Hey, guys, can you write a song you think BLACK SABBATH would write?’ So it’s no different than that. But you’re never gonna be able to replace what is coming out of Ozzy’s [Osbourne, SABBATH singer] mind, what’s coming out of Tony Iommi’s [SABBATH guitarist] mind, what Geezer’s [Butler, SABBATH bassist/lyricist] thinking when he’s gonna write lyrics, and how Bill’s [Ward, SABBATH drummer] gonna approach the drums on a riff, what kind of drum beat he’s gonna play. ‘Cause when you get a record from whatever your favorite artist or your favorite band [is], you’re getting a piece of them. So you can’t ever replace that. It’s just like saying you’re gonna write A.I. PANTERA. You can’t replace what was going on in Dime’s [PANTERA guitarist Darrell Abbott] mind and what Vinnie’s [Paul Abbott, PANTERA drummer] gonna play. PANTERA is those four guys — so it’s Philip [Anselmo, PANTERA singer], Rex [Brown, PANTERA bassist], Dime and Vinnie. And that’s that. I mean, that’s PANTERA. So, just like any other band is… That’s who it is. You can’t replace what’s coming out of Elton John’s mind, what he wants to sit down and play on a piano and what Bernie Taupin’s gonna write lyrically. That’s the beauty of the human element of music.”
Wylde continued: “But, I mean, A.I. is fine. It’s fun, in regards, though, if it’s gonna write something that sounds like what LED ZEPPELIN would write or what BLACK SABBATH would write. And it’s just,…
