In a new interview with Jim Florentine and Jim Norton of SiriusXM‘s Ozzy’s Boneyard, former OZZY OSBOURNE guitarist Jake E. Lee was asked if his guitar playing was affected by the incident last fall when he was shot near his home in Las Vegas. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Well, I hadn’t been playing guitar for a couple of years because this wrist was killing me [due to] arthritis. I finally got X-rays and they said there’s no cartilage left. And so it’s bone on bone whenever I move it. It didn’t feel that good. So, I started doing rehab for it and it started to take a lot of exercising, a lot of stretching and it was getting better. And then I walked my dog [that night in October 2024 and got shot].”
Asked if an incident like that changes the way he looks at life, Lee responded: “A little bit. A little bit… I don’t wanna think about it. I dwelled on it a little bit after I got shot, and then I realized it wasn’t healthy. And so I just kind of pushed it aside and didn’t think about it too much. ‘Cause I mean, yeah, the world got darker, more dangerous, not as fun after that night. And since then, I don’t think about it too much. And the world’s getting back to where I can enjoy it.”
Last month, Jake revealed in an online post that the two individuals who allegedly shot him have been arrested and are due to be sentenced later this month.
Lee was in his driveway in the morning of October 15, 2024 about to walk his dog at about 2:40 a.m. when he was shot in the forearm; in the back, with the bullet breaking a rib; and in the foot. None of the shots hit a vital organ. A neighbor heard the shots, hid his kids, grabbed a gun and called 911. Lee‘s dog was unharmed. Police reportedly found 15 shell casings at the scene.
Last November, Jake wrote on Facebook that the shooting occurred after he noticed two men “dressed in black, hoodies pulled down low” checking out a motorcycle in a driveway. “They saw us coming up on them and exited the driveway and quickly walked down the street, the same direction we were headed.” The men “kept checking over their shoulders at us” as Coco “pulled hard on the leash.” Lee added that the men then warned him: “You need to quit following us, turn around and fuck off.”
Lee refused to back down, believing the men were “obviously more intimidated by an 80-pound pitbull than an old guy in a bright Hawaiian shirt. He explained that “after some macho back and forth,” he and his dog continued to walk home, leaving the men behind. It was then he was shot.
“We were about 50 feet apart when I heard the shots,” Lee said. “I quickly realized he wasn’t aiming at me. He was aiming at my dog. I threw my end of the leash at Coco and yelled to go home. He did. He’s a good boy.
“One bullet went through my forearm, one through my foot, and one in the back, which broke a rib and damaged a lung. All the fingers still move.”
Lee, who was tapped by Ozzy Osbourne to replace the late Randy Rhoads in the singer’s solo band, played on two Ozzy records: 1983’s “Bark At The Moon” and 1986’s “The Ultimate Sin”.
In a statement to TMZ shortly after the shooting, Ozzy said: “It’s been 37 years since I’ve seen Jake E. Lee, but that still doesn’t take away from the shock of hearing what happened to him today. It’s just another senseless act of gun violence. I send my thoughts to him and his beautiful daughter, Jade. I just hope he’ll be OK.”
After performing with Ozzy, Lee formed the hard rock band BADLANDS. He released the solo albums “Retraced” and “Guitar Warrior” in 2005 and 2007, respectively. After a self-imposed exile from the music industry and the public eye, Lee returned with a new band called RED DRAGON CARTEL, releasing a self-titled album in 2013 followed by “Patina” in 2018.
Earlier this month, Lee made an appearance for covers of “The Ultimate Sin” and “Shot In The Dark” at the star-studded “Back To The Beginning” event at the Villa Park in Birmingham, United Kingdom. The concert marked Ozzy‘s final performance as a solo artist and as a member of BLACK SABBATH.
