Jake E. Lee recalled his favorite story from his time as a member of Ozzy Osbourne’s band, which took place when they performed the Black Sabbath classic “War Pigs” on stage in 1983.
It was soon after Lee had joined Osbourne’s band, meaning he wasn’t feeling completely confident with his position.
But as he told Guitar World in a recent interview, Osbourne’s remarkable ad-libbing – as he accessed a pig-related memory – saved the moment and provided an unforgettable anecdote of his three-year stint.
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“We were doing ‘War Pigs’ and it’s the first verse, and Ozzy looks at me and mouths, ‘What are the words?’” Lee said. “I knew the words, but he stumped me. I wasn’t expecting that.
“I didn’t want to say the wrong words, so I just said, ‘I don’t know…’ So he started singing ‘Old MacDonald Had a Farm!’”
Asked how it had worked out, Lee replied: “It worked perfectly! It was genius. It was like, ‘Old MacDonald haaaad a faaarm, he had some pigs with an oink oink here, and an oink oink therrrrrre!’”
He added: “I remembering looking at the punters in the front row, and they were just like, ‘What the fuck is going on?!’”
Playing Tony Iommi Riffs With Ozzy Was Dream Come True for Jake E. Lee
Lee – who took part in Black Sabbath’s final show at the weekend – said it had been a dream come true to join Osbourne’s band and find himself performing Tony Iommi riffs.
“It was huge,” he recalled. “I saved up my money to where I could finally buy a Gibson SG, and that was because of him. I wanted to sound like him. I thought he had the greatest tone.
“[T]o this day, Tony Iommi is my greatest inspiration. Every time I’m trying to set my stuff up to get the sound right, I play ‘War Pigs.’ If I can sound anything close to what he sounded like on that, I’m going with it.”
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Gallery Credit: Ultimate Classic Rock Staff
