Jake E. Lee
| Jake E. Lee | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Jakey Lou Williams |
| Born |
February 15, 1957 Norfolk, Virginia |
| Genres | Heavy metal, hard rock, blues rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, guitarist, songwriter |
| Instruments | Guitar |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Labels | Shrapnel Records, Frontier Records |
| Associated acts | Teaser, Mickey Ratt, Rough Cutt, Ozzy Osbourne, Badlands, Wicked Alliance, Enuff Z'nuff, Beggars & Thieves, Red Dragon Cartel |
| Website | jakeelee |
| Notable instruments | |
| Charvel/Jackson San Dimas | |
Jake E. Lee (born February 15, 1957) is an American guitarist signed to Shrapnel Records. He is best known for playing with Ozzy Osbourne between 1983-1987 and later in Badlands with Ray Gillen. He formed the band Red Dragon Cartel in 2013. Their eponymous first album was released in January 2014 and entered at No. 69 on Billboard's Album Charts. He has also recorded solo works in his own name, examples being the instrumental album A Fine Pink Mist (1996) and cover album Retraced (2005).
Lee was born Jakey Lou Williams in Norfolk, Virginia, US.. His father is of Welsh ancestry; his mother is of Japanese ancestry. His father was a jazz fan, while his mother was a classic music fan, and his older sister a pop music fan. Lee grew up in San Diego and was encouraged by his mother to take classical piano lessons as a child when he was 6-year-old. With a lack of interest in piano, 13-year-old Lee found that he enjoyed playing his older sister's guitar. His older sister influenced his desire to play by introducing him to Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin records. The first song he learned was "No Time" by The Guess Who. From there, he used what formal training he had from piano, along with a Mel Bay guitar method book and concentrated on becoming a self-taught, rock guitarist. Catching on and quickly developing a talent for the guitar, Lee played in several high school bands. And so, a teenaged Lee was already turning heads and impressing fellow San Diego musicians with his style of playing.
In San Diego, Lee headed a band called Teaser, purportedly named after the debut solo album of Tommy Bolin, of whom Lee was an avowed fan. Teaser was the official house band at San Diego's first "teen night club", StraitaHead Sound. In 1980, Lee joined a San Diego hard rock band called Mickey Ratt, which after later relocating to Los Angeles became the popular glam metal band Ratt. They released the single "Dr. Rock"/"Drivin on E", which was given away for free to fans at their live shows. Their song "Tell the World" was included on the original pressing of the influential first Metal Massacre album (1982), an album which also featured Metallica's first song "Hit the Lights".
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