Jake E. Lee Opens Up About Decades Of Being Erased From Ozzy Osbourne’s Legacy: ‘Felling Like An Almost Forgotten Footnote’

Guitarist Jake E. Lee, who played on two of Ozzy Osbourne‘s most celebrated solo albums, has revealed that he spent decades feeling “forgotten” and excluded from the metal icon’s history, a feeling that only subsided after his emotional participation in the “Back To The Beginning” farewell show.

Appearing on the “Talk Is Jericho” podcast, hosted by Fozzy frontman Chris Jericho, Lee opened up about his complex feelings regarding his tenure with Osbourne from 1982 to 1987. Despite co-writing and performing on the platinum-selling albums Bark At The Moon (1983) and The Ultimate Sin (1986), Lee said he was largely written out of the official narrative.

When asked why he felt like an outsider, Lee was candid:

“I’m not mentioned much in documentaries and things about Ozzy. At the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, you know, not a photo.”

Because of this, Lee was genuinely surprised to receive an invitation to perform at the massive Ozzy Osbourne farewell tribute, “Back To The Beginning,” in July 2025. He revealed the call came from the event’s musical director, Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine.

“When Tom called, I didn’t know why,” Lee remembered. “I’d never met him before, but when he called me he said, ‘I can’t imagine doing this without you.’ Hmm, really? Cool! I’m in! I mean, if for no other reason than just to be there for Black Sabbath: all original [members], final show. I’d do it just for that. I’d go tech for somebody!”

The event, which featured Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, and the final Black Sabbath reunion, proved to be a profoundly healing experience for the 68-year-old guitarist.

“It was a great week for me,” Lee said. “Maybe one of the best weeks of my life. I came in there feeling kind of like a footnote, maybe even an almost forgotten footnote: ‘Oh, yeah, we’ll throw him in there too.’ But everybody treated me so respectfully and [there was] encouragement and support from everybody. It made me feel special.”

Lee performed his Ozzy-era hits “The Ultimate Sin” (sung by Lzzy Hale) and “Shot In The Dark” (sung by David Draiman) alongside David Ellefson and Mike Bordin.

The performance was also a triumph for Lee personally, as he is still recovering from being shot in October 2024. He revealed the injury still affects his playing.

“I get some discomfort after I play guitar for a couple hours, but not a lot: just enough to guide me towards re-training my right hand on how to pick.”