🎸 The lineage of guitarists who have stood beside Ozzy Osbourne is legendary, featuring titans like Randy Rhoads and Jake E. Lee himself. Lee joined the fold in 1982, tasked with the monumental job of following up the late, great Rhoads and contributing to ’80s defining albums like Bark at the Moon and The Ultimate Sin. Yet, before laying down his own hits, Lee had to tackle the back catalog on the “Speak of the Devil” tour—a setlist demanding mastery over two very different guitar geniuses: Randy Rhoads and Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi.
🤯 Iommi’s Parts: Easy to Hear, Hard to Emulate
Speaking about the experience of covering those iconic tracks, former Ozzy guitarist Jake E. Lee made a surprising confession: he found Tony Iommi’s parts more challenging to play than those of Randy Rhoads. This might seem counterintuitive, as Rhoads’ style was notoriously complex and classical-influenced, while Iommi’s riffs are often praised for their heavy simplicity.
Lee explained that while Rhoads’ compositions were intricate, they were also structurally clear and organized. Iommi’s magic, however, lay in an elusive, human element that made his riffs deceptively hard to reproduce exactly.
🎻 The Art of the Bend
The key to Iommi’s difficulty, according to Lee, was the Black Sabbath legend’s unique approach to note bending.
“I found Tony Iommi’s guitar parts more challenging to play than those of Randy Rhoads… and praised the way Iommi would bend his notes.”
Iommi’s signature sound often relies on subtle, expressive bends that give his downtuned, heavy riffs their undeniable doom and swagger. These small, almost intangible inflections—the minute ways he’d push or pull a string—are what make his work feel so powerful and alive, yet incredibly tough to mimic precisely. Lee’s realization underscores the fact that musical greatness isn’t always about speed or complexity; sometimes, the true challenge lies in capturing the soul and feel of a master musician’s unique phrasing.