Jake E. Lee recently reflected on his experience performing at Ozzy Osbourne’s final show “Back to the Beginning.” He shared candid insights about his preparation and performance in an interview featured on Chris Jericho.
Lee described the nervousness he experienced before the rehearsal, an unusual feeling for the seasoned guitarist. He explained how encouragement from fellow musicians helped calm his nerves before taking the stage.
“The first rehearsal, which was the night after I arrived, at the first rehearsal, I actually got nervous, which I never do,” Lee said. “It’s not in my nature to get nervous. What’s going to happen is going to happen. Worrying about it doesn’t do anything. But watching Nuno Bettencourt and the musicians rehearsing their songs while I was standing there waiting for my turn, I started to get really nervous, which was weird.”
Frank Bello of Anthrax offered reassurance that helped shift Lee’s mindset. “Frank Bello was standing next to me, and he turns to me and he says, ‘I can’t wait to watch you.’ I’m like, ‘Dude, I’m really nervous.’ And he’s like, ‘No, you’re Jake E. Lee. You could go up there and fart and we’d applaud.’ That made me feel okay.”
Lee spent four months preparing for the performance. He focused intensely on relearning his picking technique due to a wrist injury. However, the difficulty of the “Ultimate Sin” solo presented unexpected challenges during practice sessions.
“I had picked Ultimate Sin because I knew that I could do that. But I forgot how hard the solo is,” Lee explained. “I’m doing the solo and I’m like, ‘Oh sh*t, I don’t know if I can pull this off.’ Some days I’d pick the guitar up and I go, ‘Yeah, I can do it.’ But then there’d be other days where I sounded like Nikki Sixx playing bass.”
When Lee expressed his concerns to Tom Morello, the solution came from an unexpected source. Nuno Bettencourt offered to learn the solo alongside Lee, turning a potential weakness into a collaborative strength for the performance.
Lee’s participation in the Back to the Beginning concert held deeper significance than a simple guest appearance. Tom Morello, who served as the event’s musical director, personally insisted that the show “hinged” on Lee’s participation. Guitar World reported that Morello told him, “I can’t imagine doing this without you.” This personal appeal convinced Lee to join the historic event despite his health challenges.
The concert took place on July 5, 2025, at Villa Park in Birmingham, England. It marked the last time Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath performed live together. This was a particularly poignant moment for Lee. Louder Sound noted that he hadn’t seen Ozzy since leaving the band in 1987. The reunion allowed him to feel “special” after years of feeling like a “footnote” in Ozzy’s legacy.
Lee faced significant obstacles in preparing for the performance. Guitar Player documented that he dealt with health issues including arthritis and injuries from a past shooting. These complications made it difficult for him to perform at the level he demanded of himself. Despite these challenges, Lee overcame the physical and mental hurdles to deliver a memorable performance.
The emotional weight of the event became even more significant in retrospect. Ultimate Classic Rock reported that Ozzy Osbourne passed away on July 22, 2025, just 17 days after the concert. This made the Back to the Beginning performance truly his final show. Lee’s participation and the brief reunion backstage between the two musicians became an irreplaceable moment in rock history.
