Jake E. Lee

Jake E. Lee

Jakey Lou Williams (born February 15, 1957 in Norfolk, Virginia, USA), commonly known as Jake E. Lee, is an American guitarist best known for playing with Ozzy Osbourne in the mid-1980s and later in his own band Badlands.

Musical education

At the insistence of his mother, Lee took classical piano lessons as a child. Lee however, preferred playing his older sister's guitar. Exposed to his sister's musical preferences, Lee discovered artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Queen, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, and realized that he wanted to be a rock guitarist. He played in various high school bands and would eventually bring his skills to the San Diego music scene in the late 1970s.

Musical career

In San Diego, Lee headed a band called Teaser, purportedly named after Tommy Bolin's debut solo album, of whom Lee was an avowed fan. This Teaser should not be confused with the Dutch band Teaser which featured future Whitesnake guitarist Adrian Vandenberg. Teaser was the official House Band at San Diego's first "Teen Night Club", Strait Head Sound, for several years. In 1980, Lee joined a San Diego hard rock band called Mickey Ratt, which after later relocating to Los Angeles became the popular glam metal band Ratt. They released the single "Dr. Rock"/"Drivin On E", which was given away for free to fans at their live shows. Their song "Tell The World" was included on the original pressing of the influential first Metal Massacre album (1982), an album which also featured Metallica's first song "Hit The Lights".

Lee soon left Ratt to join Rough Cutt, who were at that time produced by Ronnie James Dio and managed by his wife Wendy Dio. After hearing Lee in Rough Cutt in 1982, Ronnie James Dio invited Lee to join his new solo band Dio, which he was forming after departing Black Sabbath. Lee accepted, though his time in Dio's band was short-lived. According to drummer Vinny Appice, there were rehearsals with Lee and Dio and recordings of those rehearsals still exist. Lee claims to have written the main riff to "Don't Talk To Strangers" (which would later appear on the Holy Diver album) and that Dio wanted him to play "simple block chords that wouldn't trample on his vocals".

When Ozzy Osbourne sought a permanent replacement for the deceased Randy Rhoads, he came to Los Angeles to audition lead guitarists. Dana Strum, who had recommended Rhoads to Osbourne in 1979, this time recommended Lee for the job. Osbourne was torn between Lee and Dokken guitarist George Lynch. Though Osbourne is said to have initially chosen Lynch, he soon changed his mind and Lee became his full-time guitarist for the next five years. Lee toured with Osbourne in late 1982 and early 1983, still supporting the Diary of a Madman and Speak Of The Devil albums. Osbourne's line-up at that time was Lee on guitar, Don Airey on keyboards, Tommy Aldridge on drums and Pete Way on bass.

With Lee, Osbourne then began writing and recording the Bark at the Moon album. The songs "So Tired" and "Bark At The Moon" were released as singles, with accompanying videos, and they received regular airplay on MTV and radio. To date, the album has sold three million copies in the U.S.

After Osbourne left the Betty Ford Center where he had been treated for substance abuse, Lee presented him with the music he had written while Osbourne was away. Osbourne was purportedly very satisfied with the quantity and quality of Lee's new music, much of which would be used for the 1986 album, The Ultimate Sin. The album was awarded Platinum status in May of 1986 and was awarded Double Platinum status in October of 1994. Lee and Osbourne once again toured extensively, this time with Phil Soussan on bass and Randy Castillo on drums. In Kansas City, Missouri on April 1, 1986, a concert was filmed which would be released later that year as the home video "The Ultimate Ozzy". In 1987, Lee left the band, frustrated with Osbourne's focus on the preparations for the release of the Randy Rhoads Tribute album.

After leaving Osbourne's band, Lee formed the blues-based hard rock band Badlands with vocalist Ray Gillen in 1988. Badlands consisted of Lee, Gillen, drummer Eric Singer, and bassist Greg Chaisson. The band released their self-titled debut album in 1989. In 1991, Singer left Badlands to join KISS after the death of longtime drummer Eric Carr. Badlands then released the followup album Voodoo Highway. During the tour supporting that album, Gillen was fired and replaced by John West. Gillen later died of AIDS-related complications in 1993. In 1998, Badlands released the album Dusk, which included previously unreleased material recorded with Gillen.

In 1996, Lee released an instrumental solo album titled "A Fine Pink Mist". The album received favorable reviews and was compared by music critics to Joe Satriani's Surfing With the Alien.

Throughout the 1990s and into the new millennium, Lee has kept a relatively low profile. He has most notably appeared on musical tributes to Queen, AC/DC, Rush, Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, and Metallica. Lee was involved in a project called Wicked Alliance with vocalist Mandy Lion, drummer Ray Luzier, and bassist Brian Perry, and also briefly joined Bourgeois Pigs with Michael Guy and bassist Tony Franklin. No known recordings with either band exist. In 2000, Lee played lead guitar on two tracks from Rob Rock's Rage of Creation album. In 2005, Lee released his first album in eight years entitled Retraced, which consisted of blues covers from the 1960s and 1970s.

Equipment

Bark At The Moon '84 Tour

Marshall JCM800 2203

Modified Fender Strat (modded by friend at Charvel, hence the logo)

Boss OD-1

Boss BF-2

Charvel Holdsworth Strat (daphne blue with black scratchplate)

Charvel Holdsworth Strat (red with mirror scratchplate)

Discography

With Mickey Ratt

• The Garage Tape Dayz 78-81 (2000)
• Rattus Erectus 1976-1982
• In Your Direction
• Pre-Ratt Days (2007)

With Rough Cutt

• songs "A Little Kindness" and "Used And Abused" (1981)

With Dio

• Recorded Rehearsals (Recorded circa 1982)

With Ozzy Osbourne

• Bark at the Moon (1983)
• The Ultimate Sin (1986)

With Badlands

• Badlands (1990)
• Voodoo Highway (1991)
• Dusk (1998)

With Wicked Alliance

• 4 song demo (recorded 1994)

With Enuff Z'Nuff

• Dissonance (2009)

Solo

• A Fine Pink Mist (1996)
• Retraced (2005)
• Runnin' With the Devil (2008)