Jake E. Lee remains a fan favorite, and for good reason. He wasn’t just a guitarist hired to play in Ozzy Osbourne’s band , he co-wrote some of Ozzy’s most iconic songs and proved himself as a true musician, not just a player.
Though things eventually fell apart between Jake and Ozzy’s team, his time with Ozzy left a big mark. Jake joined after Randy Rhoads’ tragic death and helped shape the 1983 album Bark at the Moon, which became a classic. He also played on The Ultimate Sin in 1986, an album that doesn’t always get the love it deserves but includes some strong tracks.
After his unexpected firing, Jake admitted he hoped the next Ozzy album wouldn’t be any good. In a 2020 interview, he said:
“I wanted it to suck a little bit, you know? Because I got fired, and I didn’t want the next thing to be good. But it was a good record. I remember hearing it and going, ‘Oh shit. Oh well, alright, he’s happy.’”
He also shared his thoughts on how Ozzy’s albums changed after that:
“But I think through No More Tears, he had a good catalog and was putting out good records. And then, I don’t know, he got soft. I think he got lazy. He started letting other people write his shit.”
For Jake, the decline in quality also meant a loss of what he considered Ozzy’s signature style:
“There used to be a definite Ozzy sound. And it was that sound with Randy. It was that sound with me — still the same vein but still a little bit different sound. Even then, the first couple with Zakk still sounded like Ozzy, and then it quit sounding like Ozzy.”
