Randy Rhoads and Eddie Van Halen are two of the biggest names when it comes to the ’80s rock and metal soundscape. The two guitar heroes also used to be scene-mates before earning recognition. Both Van Halen and Randy Rhoads’s Quiet Riot worked their way up through the same clubs on Hollywood’s Sunset Strip.
Ozzy Osbourne talks about Randy Rhoads and Eddie Van Halen
However, Edward would get his big break first, as his band’s titular self-titled debut came out two years before Rhoads debuted as Ozzy Osbourne’s lead ax on 1980’s “Blizzard of Ozz”. Eddie Van Halen had made a mark first to the scene and a recent article containing outtakes from his recent Rolling Stone interview sees The Prince of Darkness claim how his late friend and bandmate was in no way influenced by EVH:
“I heard recently that Eddie [Van Halen] said he taught Randy all his licks … he *never*. To be honest, Randy didn’t have a nice thing to say about Eddie. Maybe they had a falling out or whatever, but they were rivals.”
It is noted that Ozzy could be referring to the archival audio clip of Eddie Van Halen which appeared in director Andre Relis’s documentary “Randy Rhoads: Reflections of a Guitar Icon”, released this May 6.
The documentary also noted the popular “cross-town rivalry” between Rhoads and Van Halen. In the aforementioned clip, Eddie Van Halen says the following:
“He was one guitarist who was honest, anyway. Because he said everything he did he learned from me. He was good, but I don’t really think he did anything that I haven’t done. And there ain’t nothing wrong with it. I’ve copied some other people, you know?”
Meanwhile, Ozzy Osbourne’s latest solo album “Patient Number 9” is out now via Epic.
