Jake E. Lee has said he’s “doing surprisingly well” after being shot three times this week.
The ex-Ozzy Osbourne guitarist offers the update in a text message to Sixx:AM and former Guns ’N’ Roses member DJ Ashba, who has shared it publicly via his Instagram stories (per Blabbermouth).
Ashba texted Lee, “Please tell me you’re okay??”, to which Lee replied: “Doing surprisingly well. I am one lucky motherfucker. Just make sure your b’day bash is wheelchair accessible! Just jestin’.”
Lee was shot in his driveway in Las Vegas at about 2:40am Tuesday morning (October 15), as he was leaving home to walk his dog. The guitarist was hit three times – in his arm, chest and foot – but none of the shots hit a vital organ. He remained conscious and was quickly taken to intensive care. His dog was unharmed.
Las Vegas authorities believe the attack to be “completely random” and, at time of publication, no one has been arrested in connection with the shooting.
Osbourne offered his condolences to Lee in a statement shared via TMZ. “It’s been 37 years since I’ve seen Jake E. Lee,” the Black Sabbath singer said, “but that still doesn’t take away from the shock of hearing what happened to him today. It’s just another senseless act of gun violence. I send my thoughts to him and his beautiful daughter, Jade. I just hope he’ll be OK.”
Lee joined Osbourne’s solo band in 1982, as the full-time replacement of Randy Rhoads, who died in a plane crash aged 25 earlier that year. He played on two of Osbourne’s albums, Bark At The Moon (1983) and The Ultimate Sin (1986), before being fired in 1987.
Osbourne explained Lee’s dismissal in a 2022 Stereogum interview. “Jake E. Lee was a fucking great guitar player,” he said, “and the way it went was, Randy Castillo, my old drummer, had started to turn me against him. It was very sad because I had no qualms with the guy. He was a great guitar player.”
After leaving Osbourne’s band, Lee performed with Badlands, Wicked Alliance, Mickey Ratt, Enuff Z’Nuff and, following a 15-year silence, Red Dragon Cartel. Red Dragon Cartel’s last album, Patina, was released in 2018.
