Joe Holmes

Joe Holmes (born June 11, 1963) is a Heavy metal guitarist. Born in New Jersey, he took lessons from guitarist Randy Rhoads in 1979. Holmes formed the L.A based band called Terriff in 1983. Holmes left Terriff to join Lizzy Borden in 1987. He left Lizzy Borden in 1988 and reformed Terriff, staying with the latter group until 1990.

Holmes then joined David Lee Roth's band in 1990 replacing Jason Becker who was diagnosed with ALS while recording the album A Little Ain't Enough.

In 1995, after Ozzy Osbourne had finished recording the Ozzmosis album, a replacement for Zakk Wylde was needed for the tour. While working on his own band, "Tariff", Joe got a call from Dean Castronovo (Oz's drummer) to let him know they were seeking a guitar player. Joe went down to Audible studios in Los Angeles and played three Ozzy classics. Holmes auditioned. Holmes did not mention that he had taken lessons from Randy Rhoads (former guitarist for Osbourne) as he thought it would hurt his chances at the job. He succeeded though and got the part.

In Ozzy's book "Diary of a Madman: Ozzy Osbourne - The Stories Behind the Songs" it says ""Always on the lookout for a bright, new talent, Ozzy spotted a guitarist who "plays like a motherfucker". That was Joe Holmes. Holmes, who had previously worked with David Lee Roth, was a pupil of Randy Rhoads. Rhoads, while on tour, would himself take classical guitar tuition, and would also arrange workshops in which he gave lessons to young players. "It's really spooky." said Ozzy, "because when Joe plays the Randy Rhoads stuff, he plays just like him - it's like I can see Randy's fingers.""

Holmes performed on the Ozzmosis tour with Osbourne. He started the tour 5 September 1995 in Monumental Stadium, Argentina, South America. He remained Ozzy's guitarist playing Ozzfest 96 through 2000 tours. Holmes left the band while recording and writing the Down to Earth album. While Holmes does not play on the album, the songs "Facing Hell", "Junkie", and "That I Never Had", which were co-written by Holmes, appear on the album. The only songs from his work with Ozzy that have been released is "Walk on Water", which first appeared on the Beavis and Butt-Head Do America soundtrack, before appearing on the bonus disc for Ozzy's 1997's compilation The Ozzman Cometh and "Perry Mason" live from the 1997 Ozzfest Live CD.