The guitarist Jake E. Lee was a member of Ozzy Osbourne‘s band from 1982 to 1987, being part of the albums “Bark at The Moon” (1983) and “Ultimate Sin” (1986). After being fired, he never saw Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne again until July 2025, when he was part of “Back to the Beginning”, Black Sabbath and Ozzy’s final show/festival.
He talked in an interview with Guitar about how he felt when he finally saw them again.
Jake E. Lee says what he felt seeing Ozzy after almost 40 years
“I did get to talk to him. There was a big photoshoot a couple days before the gig, and I talked with Sharon, and she brought me over to Ozzy.”
“There’s no ill will; there has never been any on my part. Business is business. I don’t think anything they ever did was to try and fuck over Jake; it was always about business. I didn’t know how they’d be, but they were amazing, friendly, open, welcoming and loving. I hadn’t seen either of them in decades, and after the show, on the flight back, I got a text from Ozzy.”
“He said he was sorry he couldn’t spend more time with me. And he said that when he got back to LA, he’d shoot me a text and maybe we could get together and shoot the shit for a while. Everything’s cool. I’m glad it’s resolved and everybody still likes each other.”
He continued:
“There’s a certain amount of closure. For years, in the back of my head, it was like, ‘I hope I get to see Ozzy one more time.’ I would’ve hated for the last time I spoke to him to be in 1987. I wanted to tell him I’m grateful for the opportunity he gave me,” Jake E. Lee said.
As the guitarist said, after the festival he received a message from his former boss, thanking him for being part of the show and apologizing for not having the time to talk that much with him. He said Ozzy promised to call him when he was in the United States so that they could meet and chat properly. Ozzy Osbourne passed away last July 22 at the age of 76.
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