Ozzy Osbourne Was ‘Mean,’ ‘Ugly’ Drunk Says Jake E. Lee
Former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Jake E. Lee has revealed more about his ‘80s stint in the Black Sabbath icon’s band, saying it was never fun to drink with the singer because he became an unpleasant character while under the influence.
Lee – whose own band Red Dragon Cartel recently released second album Patina – has recently discussed his pay dispute with Osbourne, and also how he was invited to rejoin the group several years ago, kickstarting his return to action.
In a recent interview with Cobras & Fire (via SleazeRoxx) Lee said, “It was never fun to party with Ozzy… Ozzy, when he’s sober, is a sweet, funny guy. He’s like one of the funniest guys I’ve ever met. He’s just fun to be around when he’s sober. And he is for a little bit, just a tiny bit of a window there, where he starts drinking and he’s still fun. … [T]hen he just … a switch goes off and he’s just, he’s not fun. He is not fun. He turns mean. And just ugly… If anything, seeing that made me cut back on the amount of partying I did. Yeah, it never was fun to party with Ozzy.”
He recalled a series of nights when Osbourne demanded entry to his hotel room. “ it would be like three or four in the morning… I’d be sleeping and I’d wake up ’cause he wouldn’t quit knocking until I opened the door… and he’d come in, ‘I got this idea for a song.’ ‘Ahhhh. OK. Let me get my guitar.’” But once Lee was ready to start work, all Osbourne could do was generate incomprehensible sounds. “I’d sit there trying and, oh God… After about the third time that it happened, I turned my tape recorder on so I could record all of it. And I’d play it back for him the next day, and he just looked at me and just said, ‘Oh, I am sorry. It will never happen again.’ And thank God it didn’t.”