Black Sabbath’s epic farewell show, Back to the Beginning, was a mammoth undertaking for everyone involved. That's especially true for Nuno Bettencourt – the 'MVP' of the event, who ended up playing on 12 songs.
There was one guitar part he drew the line at, though: Jake E. Lee's guitar solo on The Ultimate Sin, which Lee asked him to cover going into the show.
For Back to the Beginning, the Extreme shredder was already pencilled in to play Bark at the Moon, Jake E. Lee’s signature Ozzy tune, which Lee himself couldn't play in light of his health struggles.
“But I told Tom, ‘Give me his phone number right now.’ I texted Jake and told him, ‘You are fucking Jake E. Lee. There's no way in hell I'm taking that solo. You're going to play that solo. And not only that, I'll double it with you, and we'll do it together. Whatever happens, it's going to be fucking incredible,’ and that's what we did.”
The song was intended as Lee’s Plan B. Bettencourt appreciated the situation; Morello, who felt Lee’s presence was integral to the day’s success, was trying to make his life easier.
But Bettencourt felt Lee needed – no, deserved – his time in the spotlight, given the context of the event. So, not only did he refuse to budge on The Ultimate Sin solo, he also walked off stage mid-song during Shot in the Dark, leaving Lee on his own and giving him his time to shine.
“I was supposed to play on Shot in the Dark. I didn't tell anybody I was doing it – but I just walked off the stage,” he laughs.
“I wanted Jake to have his moment without another guitar player stealing his thunder. And Jake nailed it. We all came from one-guitar bands. We didn’t want rhythm guitarists. I wanted Jake to have his one moment up there by himself, so I just left. And Jake nailed it.”
Check out Bettencourt’s new interview in full in the latest issue of Guitar World, which takes an in-depth look at the year in guitar. Grab a copy from Magazines Direct.
Meanwhile, Bettencourt, who recently launched his own guitar brand, has apparently shown off his ice skating skills in a new music video.
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