In San Diego he joined a band called Mickey Ratt in 1980, which later became the popular glam metal band Ratt. They released a single "Dr. Rock"/"Drivin On E", which they gave to fans at their shows. RATT also released the song "Tell The World" on the first metal massacre album which also featured Metallica's first song "Hit The Lights".
Above is a picture of Jake playing at an early RATT gig.Lee soon left RATT to join Rough Cutt which was produced by Ronnie James Dio and managed by Wendy Dio at that time. After hearing Lee in Rough Cutt in 1982, Ronnie James Dio invited Lee to join his band and Lee accepted. The other member was former Black Sabbath drummer and former bandmate of Dio, Vinny Appice. According to Appice there were rehearsals with Lee and Dio. Appice also has said recordings of those rehearsals exist. Lee also claims to have written the riff to "Don't Talk To Strangers" and that Dio wanted him to play "simple block chords that wouldn't trample on his vocals".
When Ozzy Osbourne needed a permanent replacement for the deceased Randy Rhoads, he came to Los Angeles to audition players. Future Slaughter bassist Dana Strum recommended Lee to Osbourne. Strum had also recommended Rhoads to Osbourne. Osbourne's choice eventually came down to two guitarists, Dokken guitarist George Lynch and Lee. Osbourne almost chose Lynch but instead chose Lee. Lee played with Osbourne in late 1982 and early 1983 still supporting the Diary of a Madman tour. Osbourne's line-up was Lee on guitar, Don Airey on keyboards, Tommy Aldridge on drums and Pete Way on bass.Osbourne and Lee then began the follow-up to Diary of a Madman. Osbourne and Jake kept touring though while working on Bark at the Moon, their next album. They released the hit single "So Tired", which got airplay regularly on MTV and radio. Other singles included "Bark At The Moon", and "Spiders" (which didn't make the album but has subsequently been included on some reissues). When released, the album was a commercial success.
Ozzy Osbourne began a world tour and fired Tommy Aldridge, replacing him with Carmine Appice. Osbourne, Carmine Appice, Lee, Bob Daisley and Don Airey toured Europe in late 1983 supporting Bark At The Moon. They then prepared for a United States tour, Osbourne fired Carmine Appice and replaced him with Tommy Aldridge. On the U.S. tour their concert in Salt Lake City on March 18, 1984, was filmed and released as a video titled Bark At The Moon. After the tour Osbourne checked-in to the Betty Ford Center for alcohol rehabilitation and the band was put on hold.
After Osbourne left the Betty Ford Center, Lee presented him with the music he wrote while Osbourne was away. Most of it was kept for their upcoming 1986 album, The Ultimate Sin. Once released, the album peaked at #1 on the charts with the hit single "Shot In the Dark". Lee and Osbourne once again began a world tour this time with Phil Soussan on bass and Randy Castillo on drums. In Kansas City, Missouri on April 1, 1986 another concert was filmed which was released in 1990 as The Ultimate Ozzy by Fox and CBS. In 1987 Lee left Osbourne's band, with Osbourne concentrating on the release of the Randy Rhoads Tribute album.Lee formed the blues-based metal band Badlands in the summer of 1988. Badlands consisted of Lee, former Black Sabbath singer Ray Gillen, former Black Sabbath drummer Eric Singer and bassist Greg Chaisson. Badlands released their self-titled debut album in 1989. In 1991 Singer was fired and replaced with drummer Jeff Martin (who was also the vocalist for Surgical Steel and Racer X). Badlands then released Voodoo Highway, a more blues-oriented album. On the tour, Gillen was fired and replaced by John West. Gillen later died in 1993 at 34 years old from AIDS-related complications. In 1998, Badlands released the album Dusk, which included previously unreleased material with Gillen.
In 1996, Jake released an instrumental solo album titled A Fine Pink Mist. The album had good reviews and was compared to Joe Satriani's Surfing With the Alien.
Throughout the 1990s and into the new millennium Lee mostly kept a low profile, aside from appearing on many tribute albums. Amongst others, he recorded tributes to AC/DC, Rush, Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, Metallica. Lee also began a project called Wicked Alliance with vocalist Mandy Lion, which was a precursor to much of the industrial shock metal. He also briefly joined Bourgeois Pigs with Michael Guy (of House of Lords) and bassist Tony Franklin (The Firm). In 2000 Lee appeared on the Rob Rock album Rage of Creation. In 2005 Lee released his first album in eight years titled Retraced, which was made up of blues covers from the 1960s and 1970s.
