Delores Rhoads explains how her son Randy got hired for Ozzy's band

JasO · October 2022

It's hard to believe that Randy Rhoads passed away 40 years ago. At the time I was an editor for Guitar Player, and I decided to do a cover story celebrating Randy's life and music. I interviewed Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, Rudy Sarzo, engineer/producer Max Norman, Grover Jackson, and several others. My interview with Randy's mom, Delores Rhoads, was the most revealing and poignant of them all. It took place on August 5, 1982 -- about four months after the plane crash -- and reveals a wealth of details about Randy's upbringing, personality, passions, and music. In this excerpt, Mrs. Rhoads describes how Randy joined Ozzy's band:

How did Randy get into Ozzy’s band?

That’s kind of a funny little story. I always thought that Randy would get a chance to go into something big. That was my personal feeling. I used to ask Randy, “What if someone did come along who was really big and ask you to go?” Well, of course, he said, “I’d have to take that opportunity.” Ozzy was looking for a lead guitar player. He wanted to start this new group. He had been to New York for weeks and weeks, couldn’t find anyone. He’d been in L.A. for weeks and weeks, and he was just ready to go back to England and say, “Well, forget it. I can’t find who I want.” A local bass player that knew Randy said, “Why don’t you listen to Randy Rhoads?” So they called Randy, who was teaching that day in my school. He had a late schedule – he was teaching until about 10:30. And he said, “Oh, it won’t come out to anything, mom. I won’t even bother to go down.” I said, “No, Randy. You want to meet people like this. Even if it doesn’t materialize, it’s good for you to meet people, especially Ozzy, who’s been in the business for years and years. You go and talk with him. Who knows?” Well, he was reluctant, so I almost insisted that he go on down. So he told them, “I can’t get down there until at least midnight, because I’m teaching until 10:30.” And usually he’d run over, so he said, “It could be 10:45 before I get out of there. I’ve got to go home, and then I’ve got to go clear over across town to meet Ozzy.” So they said, “That’s alright. We’ll wait for you.”

Well, he took his little amp – he just had his little practice amp. He went with the idea, “Well, this is probably not going to be anything anyway.” So he took his little practice amp and he went down. When he came back, I said, “Well, what happened?” He said, “Golly, I don’t know! I only played about two minutes, and Ozzy said, ‘You’ve got the job!’” And Randy said, “I don’t know what I got, but I got something!” [Laughs.] And he said, “He said he’d call me in two weeks, but he has to go back to England tomorrow. He probably won’t even call.”

Well, by golly, he did call – exactly two weeks, when he said he’d call. And he said, “We’re getting things together, Randy. Are you ready to come to England?” And Randy’s saying, “Oh, oh, oh! I can’t go right now!” He was just flabbergasted. He said, “I’ve got a cold right now, I can’t leave until I feel a little better.” That was one little problem Randy had always – he was inclined not to be too strong. Even as a baby, he had respiratory problems. He had pneumonia when he was playing in Quiet Riot because he was overworked, overtired. Always susceptible to colds. That was always one thing we worried him so much about, because many times he played with a fever of 104. I always was so worried about him. I was concerned, but he just wouldn’t give up. I mean, if he was supposed to play, he would play!

Anyway, Ozzy said, “I’ll call you back.” It was a while before he called back – like two-and-a-half weeks – but anyway, they finally got it together. In the meantime, they made Randy get his passport and clear everything. It all happened so fast. Randy even had that in an interview once. He said, “Everything happened so fast for me that I couldn’t get myself together with all the thoughts, because it just was like a whirlwind.” So then he went to Ozzy’s house and lived with Ozzy, and they started writing the first album. They got into it really strong with just the two of them. And then they auditioned people for the rest of the band and got it together. And then, of course, they recorded the first album [Blizzard of Ozz] and went on tour in England at first.

I've posted the entire Delores Rhoads interview here, which everyone can read for free:

https://jasobrecht.substack.com/p/randy-rhoads-the-delores-rhoads-interview