Rudy Sarzo recently recalled the fallout Randy Rhoads had with legendary Ozzy Osbourne, recalling how the late guitar hero wanted to go back to school after fulfilling his touring obligations to Ozzy, but sadly never got the chance to do it because of the tragic March 19 plane crash.
Rudy Sarzo and Randy Rhoads went a long way back, and together, they contributed to developing a couple of integral pieces of rock history. As members of Quiet Riot back in the late ’70s, Sarzo and Rhoads were just a couple of kids working hard to get noticed by the record labels to little avail, but when they met again as Sarzo joined Ozzy’s solo band in 1981, it was a whole other ballgame.
Rudy Sarzo opens up on Randy Rhoads
The two musicians were essentially childhood friends, Sarzo knew Rhoads inside out and he tells Guitar World in a new interview that the late guitarist stood out well before he became a true rock star:
The bassist admitted that The Prince of Darkness and his lead guitarist had their differences. He recollected how the cracks started showing after Randy’s refusal to record an album’s worth of Black Sabbath covers, Sarzo said:
“But with Ozzy, I have to go back to the integrity thing again. Randy refused to record the ‘Speak of the Devil’ record, which we eventually did with Brad Gillis. When this happened, Ozzy went off the rails and fired the band, which he later took back. He gave Randy a tough time, but Randy wanted to go back to school and get his master’s. That’s all he cared about.
“Ultimately, he agreed to do it and do one more tour, but it never happened because he passed away.
“Randy was a rock star, and he became the biggest guitarist in the world. But he didn’t care; he was the only person I ever saw who would turn their back on stardom just to go back to school to pursue what they felt would bring their musicianship to the highest level.”
Tragically, Randy Rhoads died in the fatal plane crash while on the road with Ozzy on March 19, 1982 when he was only 25 years old.
