Bark At The Moon

Jake E. Lee was encouraged by his mother to take classical piano lessons as a child. With a lack of interest in piano, 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. He used 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. As A teenager Jake E. Lee was already turning heads and wowing fellow San Diego musicians with his impressive style of playing.

 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. Lee soon left Ratt to join Rough Cutt, who were at that time produced by Ronnie James Dio and managed by his wife, Wendy. After hearing Lee in Rough Cutt in 1982, Dio invited Lee to join his new solo band Dio, though his time in Dio's band was short-lived.

When Ozzy Osbourne sought a permanent replacement for the deceased Randy Rhoads, he came to Los Angeles to audition lead guitarists. Bassist Dana Strum, who had recommended Rhoads, this time recommended Lee for the job.With Lee, Osbourne then began writing and recording the Bark at the Moon album. Lee also worked on The Ultimate Sin album  but after touring with Ozzy Osbourne in support of the album, Lee was fired in a telegram from Sharon Osbourne. Lee was completely caught off guard at the time of his firing and was under the impression he had a steady gig with Osbourne.

After being fired from Ozzy's band, Lee formed the blues-based hard rock band Badlands with vocalist Ray Gillen in 1988. Badlands consisted of Lee, Gillen, drummer Eric Singer, and bassist Greg Chaisson. The band released their self-titled debut album in 1989. In 1991, Singer left Badlands to join KISS following the death of drummer Eric Carr. Badlands then released the follow-up album Voodoo Highway. During the tour supporting that album, Gillen left the band and was briefly replaced by John West. Gillen later died of AIDS-related complications in 1993. In 1998, the final Badlands album, Dusk, was released which compiled previously unreleased material recorded with Gillen.

Throughout the 1990s and into the new millennium, Lee kept a relatively low profile. He most appeared on musical tributes to Queen, AC/DC, Rush, Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, and Metallica. Lee played briefly in Wicked Alliance with vocalist Mandy Lion, drummer Ray Luzier, and bassist Brian Perry, and also briefly joined Bourgeois Pigs with Shark Island vocalist Richard Black, Michael Guy and bassist Tony Franklin.

In 1996, Lee released an instrumental solo album titled A Fine Pink Mist. In 2005, Lee released his first album in eight years entitled Retraced, which consisted of blues covers from the 1960s and 1970s.

In 2011, Jake appeared in the video for the song “We Come Undone” by the band Beggars & Thieves. Jake is featured performing the guitar solo and the following captions appear on the screen during Jake's appearance: “Jake E. Lee is alive and well, living in Las Vegas” and “He would just rather play with Beggars & Thieves than deal with shady promoters and play Bark at the Moon 750 more times”.