Randy Rhoads Had Private Diary About Ozzy Osbourne

Kathy Rhoads stated that it is a “misconception” that her brother, Randy Rhoads, received classical training in his youth. He only began to explore classical music later in order to “ground himself.” She also confirmed that he was ready to leave the Ozzy Osbourne band to pursue a college education just before his untimely death.

After departing from his band, Quiet Riot, to become the solo guitarist in Ozzy Osbourne’s emerging solo band, Randy Rhoads transformed from a local sensation into a nationwide rock superstar in just a few months. His guitar work on “Blizzard of Ozz” and “Diary of a Madman” defined ’80s rock guitar and continues to resonate throughout the genre even decades later.

In addition to being a rock guitarist, Randy also taught in his mother’s music school, which his family still runs, as the guitarist’s sister, Kathy, told Guitar World in a recent interview.

“He had like 60 students towards the end. They loved him and he really liked doing it. If he’d lived he’d still be teaching” she said, while reflecting on the important role music had in their family. While all of the Rhoads children received rock-solid musical education at a very young age, Kathy says that it is a “misconception” her brother had any classical training:

“When we started, my older brother Kelle picked drums, and Randy and I picked guitar. We started lessons on acoustic together. There’s a misconception that Randy was classically trained – but he wasn’t. What is true is that we learned how to read music properly.”

“He started on acoustic and went over to electric around 14 years old. He took lessons from a teacher called Scott Shelly. Scott came up to my mom and said, ‘I’m sorry, I can’t teach him anymore – he knows exactly as much as I do.'”

“I’ll never forget the day I was in the kitchen with my mom and Randy, at this dining-height bar. He was 15, and my mom said, ‘Randy, you have a God-given talent.’ I just froze. I thought, ‘What is he going to say?’ Tears just started streaming down his cheeks – he was so happy that my mom had told him that.”

Kathy agreed that playing with The Prince of Darkness provided her brother with an invaluable platform that would do his immense talent justice, and that Randy & Ozzy liked each other a lot. She also notes that the world of Ozzy Osbourne was very different from their own. This is when, she noted, Randy found solace in classical guitar:

“It’s well-known that Ozzy was at the party stage of his life. That was a little hard for Randy, who’d never been away from home. He still lived with my mom and I was starting a family. It was hard for him being thrust into Ozzy’s partying.”

At the time, Ozzy had been going through a divorce with his first wife, Thelma. Kathy noted how this “kind of upset” Randy, who came from a home with divorced parents, noting how her brother “felt bad for the kids.” She added:

“In the diary he said, ‘Ozzy really likes me. He’s afraid I might leave. But he’s a really good guy. I really like him.’ Ozzy was just one in a million. You could sit down with him and it felt like you knew him. He was very relatable, kind, funny, and definitely a character.”

“But we were raised in a Christian school and attended church. To be thrust into the Ozzy Osbourne world was an eye-opener. I think that’s why Randy picked up classical guitar; you know, to ground himself. He was homesick a lot, especially around the holidays.”

By now, it’s become common knowledge that Randy Rhoads was thinking of leaving the rock ‘n’ roll life behind in favor of pursuing higher education just prior to the tragedy in Florida that prematurely ended his life.

Kathy noted how her brother was really looking forward to going back to school, despite Ozzy’s attempts to talk him out of it:

“It’s known he’d told Ozzy just a few days before he passed that he was done with touring and wanted to come home. My mom was at the beginning of the process to get him into UCLA for a master’s degree in classical music. Randy was really looking forward to that.”

“Ozzy said, ‘Are you crazy? You’re a rockstar!’ Randy said, ‘That’s not what I want; this is what I want.’ Ozzy said – and I’ll quote him – ‘You could buy your own f**king college if you keep doing this!’ But for Randy, the biggest thing was to be a true musician.”