Ozzy Osbourne was shocked after learning his former guitarist Jake E. Lee was shot multiple times in Las Vegas on Tuesday morning.
“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 today,” the singer told TMZ in a statement. “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.”
TMZ said the shooting happened at 2:40 a.m. while Lee was walking his dog. He is now in the hospital, awake, and being treated in the ICU. SiriusXM’s Eddie Trunk shared on social media that Jake was shot three times—in the chest, arm, and foot.
The bullets missed all major organs except his lung. But the guitarist is doing well and is expected to recover fully. Eddie got this info from Jake’s manager.
Las Vegas authorities think the shooting was random. Since the police are still investigating, no more details are being shared. Lee and his family ask for privacy.
“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 representative for the musician said in a statement.
Lee had taken a break from performing due to pain in his right hand and was focusing on managing it, he shared in an interview with Blabbermouth, “But I am playing again – I have been for about two months maybe – and I wanna go out and do a tour.”
He continued, “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. We’ll see where that goes.”
Lee joined Osbourne’s band after Randy Rhoads passed away. He played on two albums: 1983’s ‘Bark At The Moon’ and 1986’s ‘The Ultimate Sin.’ After Ozzy, Lee formed the band Badlands. He released solo albums ‘Retraced’ and ‘Guitar Warrior.’ After a break from music, he returned with Red Dragon Cartel and released records in 2013 and 2018.