It’s been a wild ride for Zakk Wylde -- but a rewarding one, too.

The New Jersey-born guitar hero was part of the group Pride & Glory before joining Ozzy Osbourne’s band 30 years ago, then 20 years ago started his own outfit Black Label Society. These days he also has a Black Sabbath called Zakk Sabbath and a resume full of guest appearances and collaborations, including a continuing tenure on the Experience Hendrix tours.

BLS comes out with a new album, “Grimmest Hits,” its first in four years, on Jan. 19, while Wylde is also back out with Osbourne later in the year. He turns 51 this month, too, but that’s not tempering Wylde’s wild streak at all...

• “Grimmest Hits” -- which, despite the title, is BLS’ 10th of all new material -- came about much the same way as its predecessors, without a great degree of planning or forethought. “I go in with nothing, into the studio with no ideas,” Wylde says by phone. “The whole thing is to get into the studio where the drums sound like cannon, the guitars sound like a wall of noise, there’s a piano there, an acoustic guitar...and just see what happens. You could be driving to get coffee or grub for the fellas and (Neil Young’s) ‘Heart Of Gold’ comes on the radio and you think, ‘Man, it would be cool to have something like this,’ and the next thing you know you start jamming and start writing a song and it goes from there. You just find the spark of inspiration and keep fanning it.”

• Wylde rejoined Osbourne who he calls “the boss,” last year after a nearly 10-year absence. “He just called me and said, ‘Zakk, Gus (G) is out doing a solo tour. Are you available to do dishes, laundry and play guitar?’ and I said, ‘Sure!’” Wylde says. Osbourne has called the tour, which begins in April, his last one, but Wylde isn’t sure he buys it. “He’s in good health and everything like that,” Wylde says. “If he’s singing good and people are showing up and enjoying it, why does he have to stop? I mean, as soon as we get in rehearsals again we picked up where we left off and we’re crying laughing again. It’s a miracle anything got done, because just going around Ozzy is so ridiculous. The dude’s still great, man.”

• As for his own longevity, Wylde is pleased but not necessarily surprised. “I was 14 years old when I started playing music (professionally), and not many people know when they’re 14, 15 years old what they want to do with their lives,” Wylde says. “We’re lifers. If I wasn’t blessed to have Ozzy in my life, the Black label family, I’d have a wedding band or a cover band or I’d be teaching or own a music story. Everything would be centered around music and making a living playing music. That’s all I want to do.”

If You Go:

• Black Label Society, Corrosion of Conformity and Eyehategod

• Friday, Jan. 5. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

• The Fillmore Detroit, 2115 Woodward Ave.

• Tickets are $34-$45.

• Call 313-961-5451 or visit thefillmoredetroit.com.