Randall William "Randy" Rhoads (December 6, 1956 – March 19, 1982) was an American heavy metal guitarist who played with Ozzy Osbourne and Quiet Riot. . A devoted student of classical guitar, Rhoads combined his classical music influences with his own heavy metal style. Despite his short career, Rhoads is a major influence on neo-classical metal, is cited as an influence by many guitarists, and is included in several "Greatest Guitarist" lists.
The Rhoads family did not own a stereo and the children created their own music at home to entertain themselves. Rhoads began taking folk and classical guitar lessons at approximately age 7 at his mother's music school. He soon became interested in electric guitar and began taking lessons from an instructor named Scott Shelly. Shelly soon approached Delores to inform her that he could no longer teach her son, as Rhoads' knowledge of the electric guitar had exceeded his own. Rhoads also received piano lessons from his mother to build his understanding of music theory.
Rhoads met Kelly Garni while attending School and the two became best friends. The pair were unpopular due to the way they looked. Rhoads taught Garni how to play bass guitar, and together they formed a band called The Whore. It was during this period that Rhoads learned to play lead guitar. With this band, Rhoads spent several months playing at backyard parties around the Los Angeles area in the mid-1970s. The pair formed a cover band called Violet Fox with his older brother Kelle on drums. Violet Fox, who were together for approximately 5 months. After the dissolution of Violet Fox, Rhoads formed various other short-lived bands. At age 16, Rhoads and Garni formed the band Little Women. At approximately the same time Rhoads began teaching guitar in his mother's school during the day and playing live gigs at night. Recruiting Kevin DuBrow as lead vocalist, the band soon changed its name to Quiet Riot. The drummer Drew Forsyth, had periodically played with Rhoads and Garni in the past. Quiet Riot quickly became one of the most popular acts on the Los Angeles club circuit and by were signed to CBS/Sony Records. While the band had a strong following in Los Angeles, Quiet Riot and Quiet Riot II were released only in Japan
In 1979, ex-Black Sabbath vocalist Ozzy Osbourne was in Los Angeles, attempting to form a new band. An acquaintance of Osbourne's, future Slaughter bassist Dana Strum, contacted Rhoads to see if he was interested. Rhoads, disillusioned with Quiet Riot's inability to land an American recording deal, discussed the possibility of joining an already established band with his mother Delores. Rhoads got the call for the audition just before his final show with Quiet Riot. Rhoads walked into the vocalist's Los Angeles hotel room with his Gibson Les Paul guitar and started warming up. Osbourne immediately gave him the job. Osbourne was very drunk, and passed out during the audition. 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'".
Drummer Lee Kerslake and bassist Bob Daisley completed the new band, then known as The Blizzard of Ozz. The group headed into the studio to record their debut album, titled Blizzard of Ozz. Rhoads's guitar playing had changed due to the level of freedom allowed by Ozzy and he was encouraged to play what he wanted. His work with Quiet Riot has been criticized as being dull and did not rely on classical scales or arrangements. Propelled by Rhoads's neo-classical guitar work, the album proved an instant hit with rock fans, particularly in the USA.
After the UK tour the band recorded another LP, but before the US Blizzard tour both Lee Kerslake and Bob Daisley were fired by Sharon Arden, Ozzy's future wife. For the US Blizzard tour, drummer Tommy Aldridge and bassist Rudy Sarzo ( who had been Randy's bandmate in Quiet Riot) were hired. Diary of a Madman was released soon after in October 1981, and since Kerslake and Daisley were already out of the band, Aldridge and Sarzo's photos appear on the album sleeve. Disputes over royalties performance, and other intellectual property rights became a source of future court battles. According to Lee Kerslake, Rhoads almost left Osbourne's band in late 1981, due to his displeasure with the firing of Kerslake and Daisley.
A live album, Tribute, mainly drawn from a performance in Cleveland, Ohio, was released in 1987 and included live versions of "Goodbye to Romance" and "No Bone Movies", recorded in the UK with Daisley and Kerslake in 1980.
Around this time, Rhoads remarked to Osbourne, fellow Ozz bandmates Tommy Aldridge and Rudy Sarzo, and friend Kelly Garni that he was considering leaving rock for a few years to earn a degree in classical guitar at UCLA. While on tour with Ozzy Osbourne, Rhoads would seek out classical guitar tutors for lessons.
Rhoads was beginning to receive recognition for his playing and just before his death Jackson Guitars created a signature model, the Jackson Randy Rhoads. Randy received one prototype – a black offset V hardtail which is the base for today's RR line of Jackson guitars – but died before the guitar went into production.
Rhoads played his last show on Thursday, March 18, 1982 at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum. The next day, the band was heading to a festival in Orlando, Florida. Osbourne recalls his final conversation with Rhoads that night on the bus involved the guitarist admonishing him over his heavy drinking. The last thing Rhoads said to him that night was "You'll kill yourself, y'know? One of these days." After driving much of the night, they stopped in Leesburg, Florida, to fix a malfunctioning air conditioning unit on the bus while Osbourne remained asleep. On the property there was an airstrip with small helicopters and planes. Without permission, tour bus driver and ex-commercial pilot Andrew Aycock took a small Beechcraft F35 plane. On the first flight, Aycock took keyboardist Don Airey and tour manager Jake Duncan. He then landed and a second flight took to the air with Rhoads and makeup artist Rachel Youngblood aboard. During the second flight, attempts were made to apparently 'buzz' the tour bus, where the other band members were sleeping. Aycock succeeded in making two close passes, but botched the third attempt when one of the plane's wings clipped the top of the tour bus, breaking the wing into two parts and sending the plane spiraling out of control. Rhoads and Youngblood were thrown through the plane's windshield by the initial impact. The plane then severed the top of a pine tree and crashed into the garage of a nearby mansion, bursting into flames. Keyboardist Don Airey was the only member of the band to witness the crash, as the rest were asleep in the bus. It was later revealed that Aycock's system tested positive for cocaine. Osbourne later said that Aycock had been doing cocaine all night prior to the crash. The investigation into the crash discovered that Aycock's medical certificate had expired and that his biennial flight review, required for all pilots, was overdue. It was later learned that Aycock had been the pilot in another fatal crash in the United Arab Emirates six years earlier.
Rhoads' funeral was held at the First Lutheran Church in Burbank, California. Pall-bearers at the funeral included Osbourne, Aldridge, Sarzo, and Rhoads' former Quiet Riot bandmate Kevin DuBrow. On his coffin was a photo of the guitarist as well as a photo of himself on stage with Osbourne in San Francisco.
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