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Randy Rhoads

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For the talk radio host, see Randi Rhodes

Randall William "Randy" Rhoads (December 6, 1956 – March 19, 1982) was an American virtuoso guitarist, considered to be one of the greatest rock guitarists ever.

Biography

Rhoads was born at St. Johns Hospital in Santa Monica, California. He was the youngest of three children, his older brother Doug is a bass player who goes by the name of Kelle Rhoads. His sister's name is Kathy.

All Randy ever wanted to do was play the guitar. I don't remember him ever saying he wanted to do anything else. I can remember really well the time before he played guitar. He was a very intelligent kid who got good grades in school, and he didn't even have to try. And the thing that should underscore anyone's understanding of Randy is that he was so kind. Man, he was probably the kindest human being I ever met. I don't think he could have offended anybody, and I never saw him get mad. And he was like that as a child. - Kathy Rhoads.

When Randy was 17 months old, his father William Arthur Rhoads left his mother Delores Rhoads and the three children. Mrs. Rhoads has owned and operated the Musonia School of Music in Burbank, California since 1949. Rhoads started playing guitar at age 6 on his grandfather's old Gibson "Army-Navy" classical acoustic guitar. According to Rhoads's mother, he learned to play folk guitar, which was a popular way to learn guitar at the time, although he did not take lessons for very long. Rhoads was always evolving toward a hard rock/metal lead guitar style, but he was very influenced by classical music as well. This can be heard on tracks like "Dee", "Mr. Crowley", "Diary Of A Madman", "Crazy Train" and "Revelation (Mother Earth)".

I took Randy to his first rock concert, and he was amazed. It was Alice Cooper in 1971. He never saw anything like it, and he couldn't talk for four hours. I think that kind of showed him what he could do with his talent, and that's partly what made him decide to play rock. Before that, he played rock guitar and I played drums, but we never really thought about it. - Kelle Rhoads.

By the time Rhoads was 14, he was in a band called Violet Fox (after his mother's middle name, Violet). Rhoads taught his best friend Kelly Garni how to play bass, and together they formed Quiet Riot when Rhoads was about 16 (according to Rhoads' mother). Kevin DuBrow auditioned for vocalist in Rhoads' kitchen and was chosen. Then drummer Drew Forsyth came into the picture. Quiet Riot played bars and parties in L.A., often in the same clubs as Mammoth, who would later change their name to Van Halen. The band snagged a Japanese record deal soon after and Quiet Riot's self-titled debut album was released in Japan. In 1978–79, Garni left the band to pursue a career as a paramedic, and he was replaced by future Ozzy Osbourne bassist Rudy Sarzo. The band then released Quiet Riot II. Although Sarzo appeared on the cover photo for Quiet Riot II, he did not play on either of the Japanese releases.

I tried lessons on and off when I was young, but I couldn't stick with it. I didn't have the patience. When I went back to lesson in my teens, I took classical guitar. It did wonders for me. When I was 12 or 13, I started jamming, and that's when I said I wanted to do this for real. When I first got up and played for people, it was a fluke. These guys used to jam on a mountain in Burbank, and I thought I wanted to get up and play. When I first did it, people started clapping. A friend had shown me the beginning blues scale. That sort of showed me how to connect the barre chords to a little scale. From then on, it was just add-ons - Randy Rhoads

In 1979, ex-Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne was looking to start a new band. Future Slaughter bassist Dana Strum recommended Randy Rhoads to Osbourne. Randy got the call for the audition just before the last Quiet Riot gig. Rhoads walked in with a Les Paul guitar and a Fender practice amp and started warming up; Osbourne immediately gave him the job. Rhoads recalled later, "I just tuned up and did some riffs, and he said, 'You've got the gig.' I had the weirdest feeling, because I thought, 'You didn't even hear me yet.'" Osbourne described Rhoads's playing as "God entering my life."

How Randy got into Ozzy's band is kind of a funny little story. I used to ask Randy, "What if someone did come along who was really big and asked you to go with him? He said, "Well, of course, I would have to take that opportunity." Ozzy was looking for a lead guitar player. He had been in New York and LA for weeks and weeks, and couldn't find anyone. He was just ready to go back to England and say, "Forget it. I can't find who I want." A bassist who knew Randy suggested that Ozzy listen to him. They called Randy, who was teaching that day in my school until about 10:30 P.M. He said, "Oh, it won't amount to anything, Mom. I won't even to bother to go down" I said, "Randy, even if it doesn't materialize, it's good for you to meet people who have been in the business for years." He was reluctant, but he took his little practice amp and went down. When he came back, he said, "Golly! I only played about two minutes, and Ozzy said, 'You've jot the job!' I don't know what I got, but I got something!" - Delores Rhoads

Apparently Ozzy went through every player in L.A. after he quit Black Sabbath, and I never knew about it. I never looked for outside things; I was stuck in a rut. To be honest, I wasn't a big Black Sabbath fan. They were great for what they did, and obviously they did it well and made it huge. I respect that. I don't want to get into it too much, but I wasn't a big fan. I'm not sure why I got into Ozzy's band. Possibly he knew a certain sound he was looking for, and all of these other players tried to show off too much. I just started making a few harmonics. Perhaps it was my personality, because I was real quiet. I still don't know. I was 22 when I joined his band. - Randy Rhoads.

I fell in love with Randy as a player and a person the instant I saw him. He had the best smile in the world. Randy was the best guy in the world to work with. There is no comparison between him and [Black Sabbath guitarist] Tony Iommi, and I can only compare the two because those were the only guitar players I had ever worked with. I was attracted to Randy 's angelic attitude towards the whole business. I didn't have to teach him anything; all that he was lacking was guidance. He listened to every word I spoke to him, and we had a great rapport together. When we were working on the album, I would give him a melody and he would work a riff around it. Every hook he ever came up with, I loved. He was original. We discovered that most heavy metal bands stick to one key--I don't know about keys or read music or really understand notes because I just get up there and scream and jump around. But Randy said to me that most guitar players in modern bands fluctuate between A or E or whatever. So we made a rule that almost every number that we recorded on an album was never played in the same key. - Ozzy Osbourne

They arrived in England in March 1980 to begin working on their first album. Rhoads and Osbourne met up with bassist Bob Daisley in an English pub. Osbourne heard good things about Bob Daisley's playing in Rainbow, so he asked him to join his band; Daisley accepted. Osbourne and company auditioned many drummers but were being pressured by the record company, Jet Records, to start recording. Finally, the last drummer on their list, former Uriah Heep drummer Lee Kerslake, got the gig. They also hired keyboardist Don Airey who had played with Osbourne a few years prior on the Black Sabbath album Never Say Die!. The band headed into the studio to record the band's debut album, Blizzard Of Ozz.

They released two singles: "Mr. Crowley" and the hit "Crazy Train". The band toured and recorded Diary Of A Madman. Two singles were released from Diary Of A Madman; "Over The Mountain" and "Flying High Again". Two days after recording was done, Osbourne fired Kerslake and Daisley, and he hired ex-Black Oak Arkansas drummer Tommy Aldridge and ex-Quiet Riot bassist Rudy Sarzo; this lineup played together for the duration of the Blizzard Of Ozz tour, during which the album Diary of a Madman was recorded. Diary of a Madman was released shortly thereafter and Osbourne launched another tour with the same lineup. Rhoads eventually told Osbourne, Tommy Aldridge and friend Kelly Garni that he was considering leaving rock for a few years to earn a degree in classical guitar.

I have a lot of influences from everywhere. I like a lot of classical music and blues rock. As far as the classical, I just like it. I think it's a real technical thing. I wouldn't call myself an accomplished classical player at all, though. Again, I never had the patience to go through it. I wish I could be good at it. There are many great players. Eddie Van Halen is great--I don't want to get near competing with people like him. I love Allan Holdsworth's playing. He's got a lot of great jazz scales. Andy Summers of the Police is definitely unique. Pat Metheny does some great acoustic stuff. John McLaughlin is technically great, but his is not one of my favorite styles. Leslie West was very important to me. He has a great feel. He is powerful and moody. I like Earl Klugh. Jeff Beck can do anything--he can play one note and it's great. Ritchie Blackmore was great; I loved his expression. I love B.B. King. I like Michael Schenker's and Steve Lukather's playing a lot. I also like Ronnie Montrose, especially with Edgar Winter. I like the way he bends; I could never bend like that. I liked all the English players in the '70s who used a lot of vibrato. But I don't own any rock guitar albums. I listen to a lot of background music that I don't have to think about. I don't listen to music to achieve anything from it. I just listen to relax and be social. Mostly I like mellow jazz and classical. If I'm out in public, I like to hear blaring load rock, but never in my own house. I can't listen to my own records at home. - Randy Rhoads.

On March 19, 1982, the band was headed to a festival headlined by Foreigner in Orlando, Florida, when they stopped at the bus driver's house in Leesburg, Florida. The driver (Andrew Aycock) was also a licensed pilot. Andrew Aycock, Randy Rhoads and hairdresser Rachel Youngblood climbed into a plane and took off. Apparently, Aycock tried to make a mock divebomb at the bus but the plane clipped the bus and went flying into a house. Rhoads, age 25, was killed instantly. Aycock, 36, and Youngblood, 58, were also killed. It was found later that Aycock had an expired flying license and had cocaine in his system. Randy's test came through clean.

Ex-Gillan guitarist Bernie Torme replaced Rhoads for a few shows, but Brad Gillis was brought on for the remainder of the tour. In 1987, five years after Rhoads' death, Osbourne was finally ready to pay tribute to Rhoads and released Tribute the only official live album with Osbourne and Rhoads.

Rhoads has influenced many guitar players over the years, despite having a relatively small recorded catalogue; notable players include: Zakk Wylde, Dimebag Darrell, Jake E. Lee, Brad Gillis, Yngwie Malmsteen, Chris Impellitteri, George Lynch, John Petrucci, Tony MacAlpine, Wolf Hoffman, Akira Takasaki, Matthias Jabs, Troy Stetina, Lee Tatler, Paul Gilbert, Marty Friedman, Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, Janick Gers, and has had an impact on practically every metal/rock guitarists since his inception into Ozzy Osbourne's band.

Randy Rhoads is buried in Mountain View Cemetery in San Bernardino, California.

My weakness is my insecurity. I don't go up there every night with a lot of confidence. If the sound is not right, I'll get paranoid. My strength is my determination-I just want to keep getting better. I want people to know me as a guitar player, the way I knew other people.I don't want to be satisfied with myself. My other weakness is my girlfriend, who distracts me. She is the one person who can take me away from my instrument, which is something that never happened in the past. She is also strength at the same time. You can't be lazy. You have to want to play. You have to love the guitar. I did. As a matter of fact, I was afraid of competition because I thought that everybody was better than I was. It was so close to me, I thought everybody was great. - Randy Rhoads

Randy was so unique that I don't think people will ever fully realize what a talent that guy was--not only in rock and roll, but in every other field. He was phenomenal in the classics. We loved each other very dearly. I swear to God, the tragedy of my life is the day he died. I've been doing this for a long, long time now with my life, and if ever I could say that I met a natural born star, it was a guy called Randy Rhoads, God bless him. Long live Randy Rhoads! If I could only put it in one word and people would believe me, as crazy as a reputation as I have, he was the most dedicated musician I ever met in my life. He was a master of his art.- Ozzy Osbourne.

Career with Quiet Riot

1975–1976: Rhoads first joins Quiet Riot.
1977: The band signs a contract to Sony Records.
1978: The band released its first album. Released only in Japan. Kelly Garni is replaced by Rudy Sarzo.
1979: The band released the second album. Released only in Japan.
1980: Rhoads starts playing with Ozzy Osbourne.
1981: Rhoads quits Quiet Riot so he can stay focused on his work with Ozzy Osbourne
1982: Rhoads dies in a plane crash at Leesburg, Florida.
1983: The band releases Metal Health with a new guitarist, Carlos Cavazo. The song "Thunderbird" is dedicated to Rhoads' memory.

Discography with Quiet Riot

Career with Ozzy Osbourne

1980: Randy Rhoads' first gig with Ozzy Osbourne, and the recording of Blizzard of Ozz.
1981: Blizzard Of Ozz and Diary of a Madman were both released.
1987: Ozzy Osbourne releases Tribute to commemorate the fifth anniversary of Rhoads's death.

The live recordings on Tribute were originally intended to be released as Ozzy's first live album, Speak of the Devil (Talk of the Devil in the UK), but when Rhoads died, Osbourne shelved the tapes. Instead, Ozzy made a live recording of songs from the Ozzy-era Black Sabbath catalogue, playing with his usual live ensemble (Rudy Sarzo on bass guitar and Tommy Aldridge on drums) and guitarist Brad Gillis of Night Ranger substituting for Rhoads. The intended name of the live album, however, did not change, and consequently Speak of the Devil is sometimes erroneously ascribed to Rhoads's discography.

Discography with Ozzy Osbourne

Singles

Albums

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