Jake E. Lee, Ozzy Osbourne’s guitarist from 1982 until 1987, has been injured in a shooting in Las Vegas.
According to a statement released by his representative, “Lee is fully conscious and doing well in an intensive care unit at a Las Vegas hospital. He is expected to fully recover.”
The investigation is still underway into the shocking incident; the statement continued: “Las Vegas authorities believe the shooting was completely random and occurred while Lee took his dog out for a walk in the early morning hours.”
“As the incident is under police investigation, no further comments will be forthcoming. Lee and his family appreciate respecting their privacy at this time.”
A police spokesperson stated that they responded to a report of a 2:42am shooting, where they found a male victim suffering gunshot wounds.
“No arrests have been made at this time,“ they said. “This is an ongoing investigation.“
The 67-year-old joined rocker Ozzy Osbourne in 1982, replacing the late Randy Rhoads, who was killed in a plane crash, and joined Ozzy on his first two albums to great acclaim.
Jake co-wrote hits like “Bark at the Moon“ and “The Ultimate Sin“ before being unceremoniously kicked out of the band by Ozzy’s wife, Sharon, in 1987.
After his run with Ozzy, Jake formed the hard rock band Badlands, which enjoyed success until they split in 1998.
© L. BusaccaHe then formed the band Red Dragon Cartel in 2013, releasing an album in 2014, followed by Patina in 2018.
Jake last played live over five years ago; his former Badlands bandmate, bassist Greg Chaisson, told Border City Rock Talk that the rocker has been suffering from a debilitating injury.
“He’s got carpal tunnel syndrome in his right wrist, and it affects the way that he plays,“ Greg revealed. “It makes his hand go numb.“
© Bill Tompkins“He hasn’t done much [performing] because playing is not really fun for him at the moment,“ he continued.
Jake appeared on Tone Talk just last week, revealing that he is ready to get back on the horse. “I am playing again— I have been for about two months maybe— and I wanna go out and do a tour,“ he said.
© Ben Gabbe“I wanna finish doing the Patina tour, which got canceled because of Covid. I would like to go out and do that [with] Red Dragon Cartel, focus on the Patina record and do some more recording.”
Jake has enjoyed an illustrious industry career and played with bands and rockers like Wicked Alliance, Enuff Z’Nuff and Mickey Ratt.
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