What could've been.............

37 years. Where has the time gone? It's hard to imagine what he might have done in the years after Ozzy. Classical? More hard rock? It's amazing what he did in those few short years with Ozzy. I was lucky enough to see the Diary tour - I wish it had made more of an impression on me, but that was a night with all kinds of issues at the arena - our original seats left us with virtually no view because it was a half-house show. We moved around several times trying to get better seats. About a month later, I saw the story on the news.

He was a huge influence on my playing, or at least what I tried to do. Not that I ever came close to what he could do. The band I was in played a decent chunk of Blizzard, plus Over The Mountain. I bought the Star Licks and Star Jams cassette tapes - still have them, but I lost one of the booklets along the way. I tell my wife that magazine publishers are bastards - they know if they put Randy on the cover, it's pretty much an automatic buy for me. The Andrew Klein book is a great resource (despite some of the less-than-pleasant history associated with it). I picked up the Ron Sobol book, and a friend from another forum just sent me the Kelly Garni book to read. Sad that there is so little video from that era - the After Hours video is about the only thing. Tons of rumors, very little substance.

Randy is an all time great. It's amazing how he is still held in such high regard despite a handful of albums. Without a doubt he was the best guitarist of his era.

Rhoads would’ve left Ozzy soon after the Diary tour to pursue Classical music, that’s been much-discussed.

He didn’t care for Hard Rock or Metal.

What a genius and his playing is vital and fresh to this day.

Eerie that Bernie, who replaced Randy died two days from the date Randy did.

I'm surprised that Randy's albums with Quiet Riot never got released on CD all these years later.

I saw Ozzy with Randy on the Diary tour (Twin Cities Jan. 15, 1982 at the old Met Center. My buddy and I had 2nd row seats on the very left. It wasn't as good as it sounds because right in front of us was the stack of speakers (before the flying them days).

Well, the concert was good despite having the speakers in my face. I like Diary better than Blizzard. Randy was fantastic to see, hear, and watch. I remember thinking that this guy makes Eddie Van Halen look like a slouch.... and I still think that. Hearing Randy on a record versus seeing him do his stuff is two very different things.

He was a joy to watch.

40 years have passed. Remember like that day like it was yesterday. Man does time fly!

Wow...I can remember it so clearly. It doesn't feel as if it were that long ago.

Thing I remember the most was walking into my history class the next day and someone wrote Randy Rhoads R.I.P. 3-19-82 in colored chalk with a heart on the chalkboard.

I was only in 7th grade but it really moved me, because I was blown away by those two albums (and still am).

I was stationed in Germany (Army) when I heard about it. It was just the past Jan. 15 when I had seen Ozzy and Randy while on leave. Great show. I remember thinking that Randy was going to give EVH a run for his money when I watched in awe at his skills.

I was lucky to see him play with Ozzy and the Blizzard Of Oz at the Nassau Coliseum. My memory of course is blurry due to the fact at that point in my life I was pretty blitzed at concerts. But I remember having a lot of fun.

Randy really stepped up “metal” music and that genre has had some top guitarists over the years.

I was fortunate enough to see him on the Diary tour. I wish I had better memories of the show, but our seats were so bad, we spent a fair amount of time trying to find a better place to watch and not get chased out. Huge inspiration for me as a player.

Pulled out my Jackson RR today to play a few of the old Ozzy/Randy tunes.