Updated 04-May-2020.
Mondo shtuff from around the internet, all about RANDY RHOADS!
Said Ozzy in a statement: “I am deeply saddened to hear of Mrs. Rhoads passing…
My botty best at summarizing from Wikipedia: Randall William Rhoads died in a plane accident while on tour with Ozzy Osbourne in 1982 . he was a major influence on neoclassical metal and is cited as an influence the Rhoads family did not own a stereo . the children created their own music at home to entertain themselves . their parents, Delores and William, were both music teachers . Rhoads began taking folk and classical guitar lessons at approximately age 7 . he soon became interested in electric guitar and began taking lessons at Musonia from an instructor named Scott Shelly . Rhoads taught Garni how to play bass guitar, and together they formed a band called The Whore . during this period he learned to play lead guitar . “when i met him he didn’ Rhoads and his brother formed a cover band called Violet Fox in the mid-1970s . they staged several performances in the grand salon at Musonia . among their setlist was “Mississ after Violet Fox dissolved, Rhoads formed several short-lived bands . the Katzenjammer Kids featured a male lead vocalist who wore dresses on stage . he began to memorize these Rhoads’ brother says a July 11, 1971 Alice Cooper concert was a defining point in the guitarist’s life . after the concert was over Kelle said “Randy was mesmerized. He “something clicked that night and I think that kind of showed him what he could do with his talent,” Garni says . Rhoads’ discovery of Alice Cooper “a game changer” influenced his playing . he graduated from burbank high school, condensed his studies and graduated early . he taught guitar and pursued music full-time . the band soon changed its name to Quiet Riot . “polka-dot theme” became the visual focal point of the band . the relationship between DuBrow and Garni had deteriorated . duBrow drunkenly hatched a plan to shoot Rhoads got the call for the audition just before his final show with Quiet Riot in 1979 . the day before osbourne was scheduled to return to England, he agreed to audition for him . Rhoads was scheduled to meet Osbourne the following night in his hotel room . in his inebriated state, he combined the two events in his mind . “you didn’t even hear me yet osbourne began rehearsals with another guitarist upon returning to England . he didn’t mention Rhoads until after that guitarist had been fired . this seems to confirm that his account of events is inna Rhoads was turned away by customs at Heathrow Airport when he didn’t have a work permit . a representative from Jet Records was dispatched to clear the matter up but he never arrived Rhoads’ guitar playing changed due to the level of freedom allowed by Osbourne and Daisley . his work with Quiet Riot had been criticized as being “dull” and did not rely the album proved an instant hit with rock fans, particularly in the US . Rhoads released two singles from the album: “Mr. Crowley” and the hit “Crazy Train” following a UK ex-Black Oak Arkansas drummer Tommy Aldridge and bassist Rudy Sarzo hired for first US tour . Diary of a Madman was released soon after in October 1981 . since Kerslake and Daisley drummer: “he said he was going to leave the band as he did not want to leave us behind” aldridge: working with a musician as talented as Rhoads “was inspirational. It was life- “from a musical standpoint, it was probably the high-water mark of my career,” he says . “it was very exciting. From a musician perspective, it probably was the high point,” says he . ex-Quiet Riot bassist speculates that if Rhoads had continued to play rock, he might have gone the route of more keyboard-driven rock, which had become popular through the 1980s Rhoads would seek out classical guitar tutors for lessons whenever possible . many shows were simply canceled, and he grew tired of the unpredictability . a plan was announced in 1982 by Osbourne’s management and record label to record a live album of Black Sabbath songs . Rhoads and bandmate Tommy Aldridge refused to participate in the planned osbourne’s drunken behavior convinced Rhoads to leave the band . he grudgingly agreed to perform on the live album . the proposed live album was scrapped upon the guitarist’s sudden Rhoads guitarist recalls his final conversation with the band on the bus . “they stopped at Flying Baron Estates in Leesburg, Florida, to fix a malfunctioning air conditioning unit” the next day, a single-engine Beechcraft F35 was registered to a Mike Partin . on the first flight, Aycock took keyboardist don Airey and tour manager Jake Duncan as passengers . a second flight soon aycock tried to coax bassist Rudy Sarzo to join him on the flight . he botched the third attempt to “buzz” the tour bus . at about 10 a.m. all three bodies were burned beyond recognition . Rhoads’ brother-in-law flew from california to identify the guitarist’s remains . “it was just body parts everywhere,” says a ‘i got out of the bed, screaming to my fiancée, Sharon, ‘Get off the bus,’ while she was screaming to everyone else to get off a bus . after getting out of bus, I a fire engine appeared to squirt three gallons of water over the inferno . we asked for further assistance, such as telephones, and didn’t receive any further help . keyboardist don airey was the only member of the band to witness the crash . he told of seeing a struggle in the cockpit between Rhoads and Aycock as the plane approached the bus . the plane almost became perpendicular, no more than six feet off the ground . it clipped the bus, crashed into the tree and explodes on impact into the garage . a telephoto lens caught the struggle going drummer took fire extinguisher from bus and ran towards crash site in vain attempt to put out fire . tour manager Duncan explained there was no sense of foreboding: it all seemed innocent . after a few Rhoads originally had no intention of getting in the plane, and Youngblood had a bad heart . the guitarist ended up on the doomed flight . Randy heard that and decided to join them so he could the band was scheduled to perform at an outdoor festival called Rock Super Bowl XIV later that day in Orlando . though the event was not canceled, promoters offered refunds to all ticket holders . Rhoads’ longtime girlfriend Jody was in her car when she recalls hearing a block of songs from Blizzard of Ozz on the radio . the DJ announced the accident and the news that Rho the band and crew called loved ones to assure them that they were safe . Sarzo found a church near the hotel they had been taken to and went inside to pray . the church was empty aside from one man at the front guitarist sarzo was moved by the overwhelming grief this man was dealing with . at that point Sarzo realized it was Osbourne. witnesses describe driver’s state of mind as agitated in hours before fatal crash . pilot’s troubled emotional state worsened by cocaine and fact that he hadn’t slept, blamed for accident . Rhoads’ toxicology test revealed only nicotine . NTSB investigation determined that Aycock’s aviation medical certificate had expired . he was the pilot in another fatal crash in the united arab emirates “Rhoads’ funeral was held at the First Lutheran Church in Burbank, California . Serving as Pall-bearers at the funeral were Osbourne, Aldridge, Sarzo, and only 60 of the guitars were manufactured, each with the symbolic price tag of $12,619.56 . in 2010, Gibson Guitars announced a new custom shop signature guitar modeled after Rhoads’ 1974 Les Paul Custom author Joel McIver has published the first fully comprehensive Rhoads biography . in June 2012, Velocity Publishing Group published a comprehensive biography containing over 400 pages of material . may 31, 2011 marked the 30th the Legacy version of Diary of a Madman includes a second CD called Ozzy Live . this performance features the same line-up as the Tribute album . also included exclusively in the special box set are the 180 Rhoads’ mother died on November 11, 2015, at the age of 95 . his talent was not always met with such praise during his lifetime . he made up for it by smoking heavily . Rhoads was influenced by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones as a child . his biggest influences were Leslie West, Ritchie Blackmore, Michael Schenker, Gary Moore, Charlie Christian, and John “Crazy Train” and “Mr. Crowley” placed 9th and 28th respectively on Guitar World’s 100 Greatest Guitar Solos readers poll. Among the items stolen were a 1963 Harmony Rocket (R “Crazy Train” placed 51 in Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time” list . named 26 in Guitar World’s 50 Fastest Guitarists list.