Jake E. Lee, who played guitar with Ozzy Osbourne in the ‘80s, has shared the final message he received from the late singer.
Lee performed in Osbourne’s solo band between 1982 and 1987, contributing to his albums ‘Bark At The Moon’ (1983) and ‘The Ultimate Sin’ (1986). He also joined the Prince Of Darkness on numerous tours. They fell out of contact around 1987, when he left the group.
He then made headlines last year when he was shot three times outside his home in Las Vegas while walking his dog. Thankfully, the guitarist made a full recovery, and Ozzy spoke out about the attack saying: “It’s been 37 years since I’ve seen Jake E. Lee, but that still doesn’t take away from the shock of hearing what happened to him.”
Later that year, Lee was invited to play at the huge farewell show Ozzy played with his Black Sabbath bandmates in their Birmingham hometown. The offer was extended to him by Tom Morello, who served as musical director for the July 5 show, and despite Ozzy and Lee not working together since 1987, the guitarist accepted the invitation and headed across the pond.
The event marked their first time coming face to face in nearly 40 years, and now, following Ozzy’s passing this week (July 22), Lee has shared the text he received from the music icon after the performance.
Posting on Facebook, Lee said that he was “still processing” the loss of the heavy metal pioneer. “The finality of it hits me in waves,” he added, before sharing “, This was a text I got from him as I was sitting in an airport headed back home two weeks ago.”
Still processing it. The finality of it hits me in waves. This was a text I got from him as I was sitting in an airport…
Posted by Jake E Lee’s Red Dragon Cartel on Wednesday, July 23, 2025
In the message, Ozzy Osbourne wrote: “Hi jake im so sorry i couldnt spend more time with you on the weekend but it was really chaotic, i would really like to see you when i eventually get back TO LA just to shoot the shit.
“Its been so long since we saw each other, where have are you living these days, because the last thing i heard was you were living in Las Vegas,” the ‘Crazy Train’ singer added. “How did the gig for you on Saturday i really hope you had fun anyway i will text you when i eventually get back to LA and we must hook up much love and respect OZZY.”
Sadly, Ozzy did not make it back to Los Angeles to go ahead with the catch-up. As shared by his sister, the singer died at his home in Buckinghamshire on Tuesday (July 22), despite air paramedics spending two hours trying to save him.
The show in Birmingham earlier this month, dubbed ‘Back To The Beginning’, featured performances from Guns N’ Roses, KoRn, Tool, Slayer, Pantera, Metallica, Alice In Chains, Gojira, Anthrax, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and more, and raised “a ton of money” for charity. It will be turned into a concert film and shown in cinemas next year, along with behind-the-scenes footage and backstage interviews, and Osbourne‘s final memoir, Last Rites, is also set to be posthumously released later this year.
Others paying tribute to the Ozzy Osbourne this week include Zak Starkey, Adam Sandler, Ghost’s Tobias Forge, Alice Cooper, Elton John, Yungblud, Billie Joe Armstrong, Jack White, Coldplay, and Gojira. Moving messages have also been shared by his Black Sabbath bandmates Tony Iommi, Bill Ward and Geezer Butler.
