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 of all time.

1 Biography
2 Career with Quiet Riot
- 2.1 Discography with Quiet Riot
3 Career with Ozzy Osbourne
- 3.1 Discography with Ozzy Osbourne
  - 3.1.1 Singles
  - 3.1.2 Albums
4 External links

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Biography

Rhoads was born at St. Johns Hospital in Santa Monica, California. Image:PN016538.jpg 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.

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)".

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 17 (according to Rhoads' mother). Kevin DuBrow auditioned for vocalist in Rhoads' kitchen after he convinced Rhoads and Garni to give him a chance. The drummer, Drew Forsyth, was already in the picture and had periodically played with Rhoads and Garni in the past. Quiet Riot initially played in small bars in Hollywood and local parties in Burbank, eventually earning the right to play the two main L.A. music clubs of the day - The Whiskey A-Go-Go, and The Starwood. While the band had a strong following in the L.A. club scene, they were unable to secure a major recording contract in the United States. Eventually, however, the band was able to land a record deal with a Japanese label 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.

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."

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.

On March 19, 1982, the band was headed to a festival in Orlando, Florida, when they stopped at the bus driver's house in Leesburg, Florida after driving much of the night. The driver, Andrew Aycock, was also a licensed pilot and he, Randy Rhoads and hairdresser Rachel Youngblood climbed into a plane and took off early that morning. Apparently, during the flight, an attempt was made to "buzz" the tour bus where the other band members were sleeping - in doing this, the plane clipped the bus by accident and crashed into the garage of the nearby house. Rhoads, age 25, was killed instantly, as were Aycock, 36, and Youngblood, 58. It was found later that Aycock had an expired flying license and had some amount of cocaine in his system. Randy's toxicology test for illicit substances was found to be negative, he had not been using drugs at the time.

In 1987, five years after Rhoads' death, Osbourne was finally ready to pay tribute to Rhoads and released Tribute the only official live album LP with Osbourne and Rhoads together.

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, John Petrucci, Tony MacAlpine, Wolf Hoffman, Akira Takasaki, Matthias Jabs, Troy Stetina, Lee Tatler, Paul Gilbert, Marty Friedman, Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, Janick Gers, Buckethead, and has had an impact on practically every metal/rock guitarist since his inception into Ozzy Osbourne's band.

Randy Rhoads is buried in Mountain View Cemetery in San Bernardino, California. The Rhoads family and fans gather there on the anniversary of his death, as well as his birth, to celebrate a life that influenced many and ended much too soon.

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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.

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Discography with Quiet Riot

Quiet Riot (1977)
Quiet Riot II (1978)
The Randy Rhoads Years (Greatest Hits of 1977–1981) (1993)
The Greatest Hits (Greatest Hits) (1996)

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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.

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