Tag Archives: sharon osbourne

After 33 years Jake E Lee Should Finally Get Song Credits From the Osbournes for BATM

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By Andrew Catania

The story of Ozzy Osbourne and Jake E Lee remains a great tale as old as time. Do you know that a musician without any prior business knowledge can be screwed up in a deal? This is exactly what happened between Jake and Ozzy. Jake has played on The Ultimate Sin and Bark at the Moon while operating with Ozzy.   Sharon Osbourne openly screwed Jake over royalties and songwriting credits. While Ozzy and Jake signed a deal, it later backfired to hurt the guitarist.

Jake E Lee was promised writing credits and even publishing before the deal. The primary problem with Jake is that he had no lawyer or management. Ozzy Osbourne has promised Jake of everything coming while he keeps on working on the album and signed the deal. As inquisitive as it gets, Jake keeps asking because he is about to complete the music recording. While Jake finally dropped the track of the guitar playing, Ozzy mentioned the contract is ready. Right in the surreptitious deal, it is agreed that Ozzy Osbourne handled the writing of all songs. Jake is not the original writer and cannot as well claim any publishing. In the contract, it also mentioned that Jake cannot claim to have the rights to the music publicly.

While Jake questioned the contact, Sharon admitted that this isn’t the agreement. It is important to know that Ozzy Osbourne already has the tracks of the songs from Jake. This means if Jake did not sign the contract, he will be given a return flight ticket home. Ozzy can now hire another guitarist to redo the tracks Jake already suffered for and nothing will ever go to him. The entire schematics of Sharon sounds mean and if Jake took any action, things may get worse. For this reason, Jake decided not to participate in The Ultimate Sin until a good contract is signed. Jake also mentioned that both publishing and writing credits should be given to him for The Ultimate Sin. Sharon Osbourne took a clever run on Jake Lee at all costs.

Do you know why Jake even agreed to do the recordings before signing a real contract? For one, Jake was on a farm in the middle of Europe recording the tracks.  For this reason, it was easy for Sharon to easily screw him up. Once your tracks are already written, you will not have sufficient bargaining strength. Even when your songs are recorded, they will not have any value to you again. For the music business, this is really a painful experience on Jake E Lee. With Ozzy Osborne, Jake may have appeared on a couple of albums. However, Jake has really supported Sharon score two of the most successful commercial releases. Jake is the backbone of the success of the Ozzy Osbourne’s illustrious and long career.

As a kid, Jake took classical piano courses. Lee received support from his older sister and mixed up with rock record collection. Lee picked up a guitar in his teenage years being influenced by technically and fiery expert players such as Ritchie Blackmore, Jeff Beck, and Tommy Bolin. Bark at the Moon remains the first album of Jake with Osbourne. This remains a platinum hit and released that emanated after a mammoth tour. This album confirmed that Lee is one of the best guitarists during his time. In 1985, after another wonderful festival, Osbourne and Jake stopped and immediately started working on the second album.

In 1986, The Ultimate Sin remains Osbourne’s most commercial-striking album of his solo career. This album also moved into another platinum hit for Osbourne and become a sold-out success. In the meantime, both Osbourne and JakeE  Lee fell out behind the scene. This is because Osbourne’s unpredictable behavior caused by drug abuse and alcohol made.  Sharon again screwed Jake and dismissed him in 1987.  Without any iota of doubt, Jake E Lee remains the backbone of Osbourne’s hit albums. Jake is also one of the best guitarists today in the world. Jake E Lee is a natural artist with a good humor of playing the guitar.

Jake E Lee – Ozzy’s Best Guitarist and Why He Should Be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

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By Andrew Catania

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame – an assuming museum located on the shores of Lake Erie that makes the strongest of men weaken with a burning desire to belong. Legends are made and honored amongst the museum’s four walls, forever etched as the choice of guidance for the generations of musicians to come.

From all the great artists who made it to The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, our eyes wander purposely to find one name that lingers in our hearts – Jake E. Lee. The American guitarist who signed with Shrapnel Records and is recognized for playing with Ozzy Osbourne for the four years leading up to 1987 is a name that resonates admiration amongst seasoned guitarists and amateur fans alike.

Inspired by his elder sister’s guitar, Jake E. Lee gave up the classical piano lessons he had been taking since the age of six only to pick up the guitar at 13. Inspired by Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath and Led Zepplin in his teens – he transformed his classical music knowledge to become a self-taught rock guitarist, highlighting his natural acumen for the instrument.

His talent grew multi-bounds, leading to incidents where Lee had been asked to downplay his skill. In 1980, Lee joined a hard rock band called Mickey Ratt in San Diego that went on to become the popular glam metal band Ratt in Los Angeles under his care. Once he realized that the peak of Ratt’s success had been achieved, he left to join Rough Cutt but was whisked away by Rough Cutt’s producer Ronnie James Dio who invited him to join his new solo band Dio – Ronnie James Dio’s latest venture after leaving Black Sabbath. Lee’s stint at Dio’s band remained short lived due to the fact that Ronnie Dio continued to wish for Lee to play “simple block chords that wouldn’t trample on his vocals”.

The turn of events that took place next defined Lee’s discovery to the path of success. Around the same time as Lee’s departure from Dio, the world-renowned bassist Dana Strum recommended Jake E. Lee as a replacement for the recently deceased Randy Rhoads to Ozzy Osbourne. Torn between Dokken’s George Lynch and Jake E. Lee, Ozzy finally decided on Jake E. Lee despite having initially chosen George Lynch based on Lee’s creativity in technique.

Lee continued to stick by Osbourne, through Osbourne’s substance abuse problems as well as his post-recovery tours up until Lee was unfairly fired by Osbourne’s wife Sharon Osbourne – without any hint at the impending exit.

Shocked but undefeated, Jake E. Lee went on to form his own blues inspired hard rock band Badlands with vocalist Ray Gillen in 1988.  Following the short-term success and end of Badlands, Jake E.Lee continued to make waves in the musical industry. Apart from wishing to keeping a low-key profile between the 1990’s -2000’s, he still appeared on musical tributes to Queen, AC/DC, Rush, Metallica, and others.

There are very few who can boast to have the depth of experience Jake E. Lee has – the man who has been chosen to be their primary one choice by great producers and musicians. His dedication to the art of playing the guitar above the desire to be commercially successful has often buried his true contribution to rock and roll. If there is one name our wandering eyes search for on The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame – it’s that of Jake E. Lee.

All That Shreds Exclusive! Ozzy Osbourne’s Upcoming Solo Record – Who Should Take Over the Guitar?

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By Andrew Catania

Now that the Black Sabbath band has started wrapping up their music career and the final show has been locked in for February 4th, many of us will mourn not having more from the band. However, this is equally pleasing in tandem, that Ozzy Osbourne, the Madman of Black Sabbath who recently turned 68, hasn’t called it a day yet and says that he’s “currently playing around with some song ideas. I have a few things jotted down, and once Black Sabbath is off the road, I will be heading into the studio with my band to get the songs recorded. Once it’s all in the can, you can be sure to see me back on the road again.”

Sounds cool, right!

So now that the big news is out and has enthralled the crazy global fandom of Ozzy – the ultimate Prince of Darkness, apparently, this has become a topic of hot debate about who will play the guitar on his upcoming solo records.

Considering that the Godfather of Metal has a good record of having paired with the top-notch music virtuosos of their time, including Randy Rhoads, Jake E. Lee, Zakk Wylde, Gus G, Joe Holmes and others, it would surely be interesting to see who the ‘picky’ Ozzy would choose to collaborate with this time around. Rumor has it he’s writing with Steve Stevens but won’t touring with him.   If Gus G doesn’t return, who will be his guitarist? Here are our top picks of potential guitarists likely to pair up with Ozzy for his upcoming record.

  1. Rusty Cooley

Acclaimed for his aesthetic and intricately refined techniques, and rendered as one of the fastest guitarists in the US, Rusty Cooley is a virtuosic name in heavy, progressive and power metal genre. Well-known as the king of shreds, Rusty has been casting a spell through his chords since 1985 and has been associated with the Day of Reckoning, Outworld, Austrian Death Machine, the Rings of Saturn and a number of solos and special performances. He has been called as the ‘Leading Light of Post-Malmsteen Shred-volution’ by the Guitar Player magazine. With Cooley heavily influenced by Rhoads, this would be our logical choice.

  1. Jeff Loomis

Famous and applauded for his soulful contribution to ‘Nevermore’, Jeff Loomis is one of the top-notch names that rule the present-age metal genre. Jeff Loomis has proven his mettle as a lyricist, composer, vocalist, bassist and keyboard, drum and guitar player.

Aside from a number of fruitful associations with Arch Enemy, Nevermore, Fear Tech, Sanctuary, Conquering Dystopia, Experiment Fear, System, and 7 Eyes, Jeff Loomis has skillfully proved his virtuosity in a number of solos that make a strong emblem of his unique classic arpeggios and gradually flowing nuances.

  1. Marty Friedman

Famous for his former association with the heavy metal band Megadeth that ruled the music world for the entire decade of the mighty 90s, Marty Friedman has now become a mega music sensation in Japan.

His shredding techniques and style still carry that vibrant and signature ‘Megadeth’ essence, however, his personal preferences and music taste has drifted towards contemporary and Japanese pop. This has influenced him to evolve as an ecstatic fusion of eastern and western music, punctuated and infused with thrash metal, progressive rock, and neoclassic genres.

  1. Vinnie Moore

Having emerged on the 80s music horizon with his incredible performances in Alice Cooper’s ‘Hey Stoopid’, Vinnie Moore has managed to attain the stature of the most influential musicians who defined and shaped the dynamics and tending patterns of the music scene of the 80s and 90s.

Vinnie Moore has had an exciting career from 1986 to date, that is punctuated with his associated acts with UFO, Alice Cooper, Red Zone Rider, along with a number of hit solos records to his name. Vinnie Moore’s style stems from neoclassical metal, heavy metal, hard rock, and instrumental rock genre.

  1. Jacky Vincent

Though making the list of prospected senior guitarists joining Ozzy at the young of 27 is itself a validation of extraordinary talent, yet Jacky Vincent has managed to bag a tremendous applause from the audience’s and critic’s camps alike, becoming one of the most sought-after music celebrity with a number of ambassadorships and endorsements to his name. A former member of Falling in Reverse, Jacky Vincent is currently playing for Cry Venom, casting an ecstatic spell through his speed, accuracy, and ferocious techniques.