Jake E. Lee

He may have appeared on only a pair of albums with Ozzy Osbourne, but guitarist Jake E. Lee helped Osbourne score two of the most commercially successful releases of his long and illustrious career. Born Jake Lou Williams on February 15, 1957, to American and Japanese parents, Lee and his family eventually settled down in the San Diego, CA, area. After taking classical piano lessons as a child, Williams was introduced to rock via his older sister's record collection (Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, etc.). By his teenage years, Williams had picked up the guitar himself, influenced by such fiery and technically proficient players as Tommy Bolin, Jeff Beck, and Ritchie Blackmore. During the late '70s, Williams began playing in bands around the Hollywood area, including Mickey Rat, which would eventually evolve into '80s pretty boy rockers Ratt. After jumping ship to briefly join the obscure outfit the Greg Leon Invasion, Williams wound up laying down guitar for Rough Cutt during a short spell (like Ratt, Rough Cutt would go on to issue albums during the '80s, only long after Lee had left). But Williams didn't have to wait long for his next band opportunity -- local bassist Dana Strum was asked to help recruit the next guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne's solo band (Strum had recruited Randy Rhoads for Osbourne a few years prior), who in turn set up a tryout for Lee. Future Dokken guitarist George Lynch was initially given the nod but ultimately didn't work out, resulting in Williams being welcomed aboard. After changing his name to Jake E. Lee, he joined Osbourne for his first U.S. performance at the 1983 U.S. Festival (in front of an estimated 350,000 metalheads). In the fall of that same year, Lee's first album with Osbourne was issued, Bark at the Moon, a platinum hit that was...