Ozzy Osbourne has paid tribute to late, great guitarist, Randy Rhoads, on the 43rd anniversary of his passing.
Earlier today (March 19th), Osbourne wrote on his Facebook page,”Randy Rhoads was quite possibly the best composer & musician that I have ever met in my life. He came into my life like a bolt of lightning and as such he was gone again. I consider myself one of the luckiest men alive to have not only met him but also I had the great honor of being able to work with him. I will cherish the time I spent with him till the day I die.
LONG LIVE RANDY RHOADS. LONG LIVE ROCK N ROLL. I LOVE YOU ALL.”
Four years ago, the Prince of Darkness told Rolling Stone magazine, “I knew [Rhoads] for a very short amount of time. But what he gave me in that short amount of time was immeasurable in f–king greatness. To get somebody like Randy Rhoads to play on two albums, and for those two albums to sound as good as the day they were recorded, is something else. And I’m forever in gratitude for that. God only knows where that man would be today. The very fact that he’s not here to breathe the air is just a f–king crime… He was a dedicated, true musician, and he was a lovely guy. I still think about him all the time.”
Rhoads famously played on Osbourne‘s debut, Blizzard Of Ozz album, as well as its follow up, Diary Of A Madman.
On March 19th, 1987, Osbourne released the live album, Tribute, in honor of Rhoads. It features live recordings from the Blizzard Of Ozz tour, as well as, studio outtakes of Rhoads recording the classical-influenced acoustic guitar piece, Dee. The instrumental, which appears on Blizzard Of Ozz, was written for Rhoads‘ mother Delores.
In 2021, Rhoads received the Musical Excellence Award at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony.
The Musical Excellence Award is given to artists, musicians, songwriters and producers whose originality and influence creating music have had a dramatic impact on music.
14 Responses
Dana…. remember it like it was yesterday. My b’day is 3/20 so it’s very somber…but I will always cherish the interactions I had with both randy and Kevin… Randy’s presence is missed greatly….
Happy Birthday, Mike,
Please forgive me if you had explained this before, I have old lay’s memory (lol), how were afforded to have these interactions with Rhoads? Please share.
All my best,
Dana
Dana..I was more friends with Kevin. Was in a band that played Hollywood circuit, so met randy through Kevin ..also had a guitar being redone by Karl Sandoval same time Randy came into the shop…we were casual friends.. but he made a lasting impact on me..I called him the quiet genius. And I will always cherish having known him…
Wow, lucky you. He was my absolute favorite player, but Sykes (RIP) was my dream man-LOL!
Sykes was no push-over !!!
Ramithard,
Yes, you are absolutely correct!
Sykes was a triple threat: amazing guitarist, singer and song writer. He is my second favorite player, behind Rhoads .Lynch rounds out my top three.
In Sykes‘ case, he just also happened to be my crush. In my humble opinion, when he was in Whitesnake, he was drop dead gorgeous.