Photo: Redferns
Jake E. Lee says he's "one luck motherf***er" after surviving a shooting in Las Vegas early Tuesday morning (October 15). The guitarist shared his health update via former Guns N’ Roses and Sixx:A.M. guitarist D.J. Ashba, who posted a text conversation between himself and Lee on his Instagram story.
“Please tell me you’re okay??” Ashba texted Lee after news broke of the shooting.
“Doing surprisingly well," Lee responded. "I am one lucky mother f**er. Just make sure your bday bash is wheelchair accessible! Just jestin’.”
“So fn thankful you’re ok!" Ashba replied.
Lee also shared an update on his Facebook page, writing:
“Checking. Is this on? Been awhile since I posted here. Let’s see: I deeply appreciate all the concern and well wishes. Makes everything going on a little better. To clarify, I was shot three times. I was on my way back home from walking my dog Coco (I didn’t name him so don’t!) Don’t want to go into details now, I’m tired, but I feel relatively very lucky. The police found 15 shell casings at the scene which means he emptied his clip on me. I could only dodge so many so one bullet went through my forearm, one through my foot, and one in the back which broke a rib and damaged a lung. Priority now is to keep draining my lung till it’s done crying. Then we can pull that tube out and concentrate on the more minor injuries. And by the way, Coco’s fine and appreciates your inquiries!”
Lee was Ozzy Osbourne's guitarist from 1982-1987. He toured with the Prince of Darkness and is also featured on the 1983 album Bark at the Moon and 1986's The Ultimate Sin, as well as songs like "Shot In The Dark" and "Killer of Giants." He was eventually fired from the band after getting into a dispute with Ozzy's wife Sharon Osbourne over songwriting credits in 1987.
Osbourne has since said he has nothing against Lee and admitted his drummer at the time, Randy Castillo, turned him against the guitarist back in the '80s.
Ozzy shared concern for his former bandmate, saying in a statement: “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. 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.”