Randy Rhoads

While the most dominating and influential heavy metal guitarist of the '80s would have to be Eddie Van Halen, Ozzy Osbourne's original guitarist, Randy Rhoads, was one of the few guitarists of the era to create his own signature style. While just about every other guitarist was merely copying Van Halen's unorthodox two-hand tapping technique, Rhoads was one of the first heavy metal guitarists to incorporate classical music into his playing (later picked up by such six-string shredders as Yngwie Malmsteen). Although he only issued a pair of major-label albums during his lifetime, he immediately reached legendary status upon his tragic death in early 1982. Rhoads was born on December 6, 1956, in Santa Monica, CA. Rhoads came from a musical family (his mother was a school music teacher) and began playing guitar before he even reached the age of ten. By his teenage years, Rhoads had become interested in the hard rock sounds of Mountain, Led Zeppelin, and Alice Cooper and as his musical taste changed, so had his guitar style. After playing in several school bands, Rhoads hooked up with singer Kevin DuBrow and formed Quiet Riot. Along with Van Halen, Quiet Riot became a major draw on the L.A. club circuit even though new wave and punk were the most dominating musical styles on the Sunset Strip. While the band wasn't able to secure a U.S. record deal, they released two albums in Japan: 1977's Quiet Riot and 1978's Quiet Riot II. Frustrated that the band wasn't getting anywhere in their homeland, Rhoads tried out for the guitar position in ex-Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne's solo band. Rumor has it that Rhoads was hired before he even played a note because he "looked the part." Osbourne's first solo release, 1980's Blizzard of Ozz, has become one of hard rock/heavy metal's...