Ozzy Osbourne released the single “Bark at the Moon” in the United Kingdom on November 11, 1983. The title track introduced his third studio album, Bark at the Moon, and his first with guitarist Jake E. Lee. Its central riff had existed before Lee joined the band, but he changed its rhythm to fit the singer he was writing for.
The new partnership followed Randy Rhoads’ death in 1982. In a 1986 Guitar World interview, Lee described how carefully he approached Ozzy with material: he would play a riff, then let the band develop it if the singer liked what he heard. Lee often had verses and choruses prepared too, but he was reluctant to argue when an arrangement moved away from his original idea. He knew he was the new arrival.
Lee told Guitar Player that his initial version of the “Bark at the Moon” riff moved in eighth notes. Introducing 16th notes underneath changed how it felt. “And it instantly sounded like an Ozzy song,” he recalled. His approach to the closing solo was just as deliberate. Through most of the passage, he stayed on the B and G strings, accepting increasingly wide stretches between his fingers because he wanted a consistent tone. The difficulty came from serving that sound, he explained, rather than trying to make the playing look impressive.
Osbourne already had the album’s title in mind when Lee played him the riff. In an interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, Lee recalled that the singer chose it as “Bark at the Moon” on the spot. Lee and bassist Bob Daisley then did much of the work developing the album’s songs, with Daisley handling lyrics. Recording also meant learning from producer Max Norman. Lee credited Norman with helping him tighten his playing and match separately recorded guitar takes. For a guitarist making his first major album, the process involved learning how to make the parts work on tape as well as writing them.
The lyric gave Osbourne a character to inhabit: a buried creature returns to take revenge on those who thought it was gone. The accompanying clip turned the singer into a laboratory experiment gone wrong, with Ozzy transforming into a werewolf. It was his first music video, and the creature makeup connected it to the imagery of the parent album. Guitar, voice and horror-film theater were all part of the single’s presentation.
“Bark at the Moon” entered the UK singles chart at No. 32, climbed to No. 21 and spent eight weeks in the Top 100. Its peak came in the chart dated December 10, 1983.
The writing credits became a separate point of contention. “Bark at the Moon” was credited to Osbourne alone, despite Lee’s account of creating the music. Lee told Ultimate Classic Rock that he had expected a credit and waited until the touring cycle ended to insist on a contract before work began on another record. He received songwriting credits on 1986’s The Ultimate Sin, his second studio album with Osbourne.
