March 19, 1982: Randy Rhoads Dies In Plane Crash

Randy Rhoads died on March 19, 1982. Gone far too soon at the age of 25 in a tragic plane crash, Rhoads will be forever influential to hard rock and metal guitarists for his early work with Quiet Riot and most notably his work on Ozzy Osbourne's first two solo LPs, Blizzard Of Ozz and Diary Of A Madman.

Rhoads' classical music influences helped add a unique artistry to metal. Few guitarists did at the time, and few have done that since. It was something Osbourne recognized and cherished from day one.

“When he played my brain went, ‘Either this is the greatest gear ever or this guy really is the best guitarist in the world!'" said Osbourne in a 2011 interview with The Guardian.  "It took me a very long time to get over his death...Randy gave me a purpose, he gave me hope. I was fed up fighting people. I just had the greatest respect for him.”

The respect was evident in the video below of Ozzy talking with son, Jack Osbourne, about first meeting Randy Rhoads. Ozzy says, "I truly believe if he hadn't got killed when he did, he'd be up there with the big guys. He was f---ing phenomenal!"

Rhoads was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2021. He was honored with the Musical Excellence Award. Also part of the 2021 class were Foo Fighters, The Go-Go's, Carole King, Tina Turner, Jay-Z, Todd Rundgren and more.

After it was announced Rhoads was being honored by the Rock Hall, Osbourne said in a statement, "I’m so happy that Randy’s genius, which we all saw from the beginning, is finally being recognized and that he is getting his due."

He added, "I only wish he was here in person to get this award and that we could all celebrate together. It’s really great that Randy’s family, friends and fans get to see him honored this way."

Rudy Sarzo, who was bandmates with Rhoads in Quiet Riot, told WDHA's Terrie Carr, "We were not expecting anything like that. And what a wonderful honor — so deserving for Randy."

Sarzo added, "Randy was the lead shredder, the lead classical-influenced composer, something that him coming from a musical family of teachers. Randy was a teacher. He got all these incredible qualifications that a lot of musicians did not have growing up — growing up in a musical family; him becoming a teacher himself. So he brought a lot of that into his music. That was the essence of Randy Rhoads."

After you get thrown out of one of the most influential bands of all time, what do you do for an encore? Ozzy Osbourne was a misfit, an unusual vocalist, he didn’t play instruments or write songs in the conventional sense… so his former Black Sabbath bandmates probably didn’t see him as someone who would rival them for popularity. Surprise, surprise: Ozzy Osbourne’s long second act has been one of the most surprising and tumultuous in the history of rock and roll.

Sure, the bottom-feeding celebrity news machine loves him as a headline-generating lunatic, but the reason why we still care after all these years is the amazing discography Ozzy has amassed over the decades. Here are our 40 favorite Ozzy jams from 1980 on. As Ozzy prepares to wrap up an incredible career, we listened to everything, from the classic ‘Blizzard Of Ozz’ (every song made the list, except for Randy Rhoads’ solo guitar piece “Dee”) to the advance tracks released from ‘Ordinary Man.’