Jake E. Lee has opened up on his experience auditioning to be Ozzy Osbourne’s next guitar player in a candid new interview with the Talk Is Jericho podcast, offering a fresh look into the singer’s recruitment process.
Lee became Ozzy’s second full-time guitarist in late 1982, when he succeeded the late Randy Rhoads, who helped kickstart singer’s solo career. Following Rhoads’ death in a plane crash while the band was on tour in early 1982, Ozzy and his group forced themselves to carry on, with Bernie Tormé and Brad Gillis each helping to complete the tour.
Even before the road show was over, Ozzy had begun looking for a permanent replacement for Rhoads. George Lynch had been tagged and was touring with the group to shadow Gillis, watching him from the side of the stage.
But Ozzy clearly wasn’t sold on Lynch. As Lee explains, he had turned to Slaughter guitarist Dana Strum, who had introduced him to Rhoads, and asked for his help to find another electric guitar virtuoso.
At the time, Lee was working with Ronnie James Dio, who was assembling a band for a solo project.
“So Dana checked out all the bands and saw what he thought were the 10 best guitar players,” Lee says. “We all went into his studio and he took our photo, and then said, ‘Play something.’
“I'm like, ‘Play what?’ He goes, ‘Whatever you want.’ So I just doodled for about a minute and a half.
“They sent all those to Sharon and Ozzy, and they picked three: Me, Mitch Perry and someone else.”
From the start, Lee’s audition went sideways.
“I showed up late because Wendy Dio tried to prevent me from going to the audition,” he goes on. “All my gear was in a storage locker, and when I got there, one of our roadies said, ‘Wendy says you can’t take anything.’”
After 15 minutes of back and forth, he quipped, “Are you gonna be the guy that stops me from auditioning for Ozzy Osbourne?”
The roadie relented, but Lee says, “I had to lug all my shit out myself.”
“When I got to the audition, I was late. And according to Sharon, my whole attitude after that helped me get the gig,” he says. “She said, ‘You’re late. We just about walked out.’ I said, ‘Well, I’m here now. Do you want me to play or not?’
“I didn’t know that much about Sharon. I might not have put it that way [if I had]. But she went, ‘Yeah, okay. Go ahead and play.’
“I kind of messed the songs up because with ‘Crazy Train’ and ‘I Don’t Know,’ you could swap parts in those songs. And I did, because I’d just learned them the night before. So I was kind of screwing up, and I thought, Yeah, I'm not getting this gig.”
Lee says Ozzy nodded after the audition before going over to Sharon for a quiet word.
“Then Sharon asked, ‘Can you do a solo?’ ‘You mean, like ‘Eruption?’ And she went, ‘Yeah, could you do that?’
“I said, ‘Yeah, if I worked one out. I don’t have anything prepared, and I’m not going to do it because I already fucked the songs up.’”
Despite his attitude, Ozzy and Sharon knew Lee was the guitarist they wanted. All that was left was to tell him — and George Lynch.
Unfortunately for Lynch, he was about to find out in the worst way.
“So I’m packing my gear up, and George walks in,” Lee continues. “I’m about to introduce myself, because I hadn’t met him before that, and then Ozzy comes up, looks at me, and goes, ‘You want the gig?’ And he turned to George and said, ‘He’s got it. You don’t. You’re fired.’”
Much has been said of Ozzy’s caring and paternal side, but Lee learned in that moment how brutal he could be, too. Lynch was booted before playing a single note onstage, and, with Lee, Ozzy’s band could enjoy an element of stability once more.
Lee has also revealed the last conversation he had with Ozzy, after burying the hatchet of their soured relationship at Back to the Beginning. Lee's desire to bring 'jazz' into the band had led to a “frustrating” final chapter in the group, with Zakk Wylde ultimately taking his place in 1986.
