Imagine an alternate world where Jake E. Lee joined Motley Crue instead of playing guitar for Ozzy Osbourne after the death of Randy Rhoads. According to Lee, Crue wanted him to replace Mick Mars in the early days.

Fresh out of Ratt, Lee told Tone Talk in a recent interview that he had nothing else going on at the time and was hanging around at Motley Crue shows. "Nikki [Sixx] and Tommy [Lee] wanted me in the band. They actually wanted me to replace Mick — which you can understand that," said the guitarist, bragging, "[I was] fucking better looking and fucking better playing."

The problem, continued Lee, was that Mars' "in-law or whatever" was financially supporting the band. He said there was even the conversation about having two guitar players in Motley Crue, but he wasn't entirely on board with the idea. "Whether somebody denies it or not, that's what started the rift between me and Mick," the axeman claims.

Wondering aloud what the Motley Crue would have been like if he was the guitar player instead of Mars, Lee said, "I'm not even necessarily saying it would be better. Nothing against Mick. [He had] great tone, fucking good rhythm. [He] probably was what they needed to be big."

"They wouldn't have been as big with me. Musically, they might have been better," he concluded.

Since we're discussing alternate realities where Jake E. Lee's career took a different path, now is a good time to remind you that Ronnie James Dio invited him to join the Dio group in 1982. He had joined Rough Cutt after his split with Ratt and the band was produced by Ronnie and managed by his wife, Wendy Dio. In the end, it was Vivian Campbell who got the gig as the guitar player in Dio.