Former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Jake E. Lee has discussed the decades-long debate that has pitted him against his Prince of Darkness predecessor, Randy Rhoads.
Osbourne hired and fired a number of different electric guitar players between Rhoads’ untimely death in March 1982 and the end of the year, with Jake E. Lee’s eventual arrival providing much-needed stability for the band.
As a young guitar prodigy, Rhoads had helped launch Ozzy’s solo career with some world-beating guitar acrobatics, resulting in the rock community hailing him alongside Eddie Van Halen as one of the best guitar players in the world.
So, when Jake E. Lee was announced as his permanent successor, the guitar world naturally started pitting his skills against the man who came before him.
Guesting on the Tone-Talk YouTube channel, Lee has now weighed in on such comparisons, discussing how the two players differed from one another – and praising the “unparalleled” aspect of Rhoads’ legacy that no one has come close to rivaling.
“Still to this day there’s people that like my playing, and like it better than Randy’s,” says Lee. “And then there’s always the people that say, ‘That’s ridiculous,’ like it’s written somewhere that, ‘No, Randy is just better. Anybody who thinks differently is an idiot.’
“We're different,” he goes on. “I’m not saying I’m better than Randy, but I don’t think Randy’s better than me, either. And I don't think it’s wrong for certain people to like my style of playing better.”
Lee’s two Ozzy albums – 1983’s Bark at the Moon and 1986’s The Ultimate Sin – matched Rhoads’ studio tally with Osbourne. Musically, though, Lee believes there are clear differences between them.
“If anything, my shit’s a little bit harder to play than Randy’s,” he continues. “So the whole, ‘Randy is better, period,’ is just wrong. You have a preference. Once you get to a certain level, it’s not that ‘this guy is better’. It's [about] who speaks to you.'
“How he used classical styles into the rock thing was unparalleled. I don't think anybody’s done it better since. I’ve gotta take my hat off to him. The stuff he did was awesome.”
Speaking to Guitar World in 1986, Lee had said Randy “was the best new guitar player post-Eddie”. But there were points during his time in the band that he felt the fan-powered rivalry got out of hand.
“There was one show [with Ozzy] where there were these kids off to the side, so I went over to see what they were doing,” he recalls. “They all had Randy Rhoads T-shirts, and they kept pointing at the shirts and going ‘Number One,’ and then they’d point at me and flip me off.
“I went over there after the show and I said, ‘Wearing a Randy Rhoads T-shirt only reminds Ozzy that he’s lost a friend. Randy is not around to appreciate it, and I don’t appreciate it. I’m glad you liked Randy but you don’t have to shove him in my face.’”
Elsewhere in his Tone-Talk chat, Lee also discusses his experiences of tracking Bark at the Moon, recalling how he hated the record – which he wanted to remix – when he first heard it.
“I said, ‘I hate it. Keyboards are loud. Guitars – they're not driving the songs anymore. They're too low,’” he recalls admitting after listening to the record.
While Ozzy was eager to take on board his new guitarist’s comments, Lee says Sharon Osbourne told him to “get used to it”. “Sharon said, ‘No. We're already way too late giving them the album. We can't remix it. We have to send this in now,’” Lee recounts.
Jake E. Lee is currently recovering after he was shot multiple times in Las Vegas earlier this year. His Tone-Talk interview was captured before the incident.
