Apparently, per Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Randy Rhoads used to talk smack about Eddie Van Halen. Per a new interview with Rolling Stone, Ozzy mentions how the two guitarists were at odds with one another. Ozzy speaks to a matter he had heard involving Rhoads and Van Halen, but clarifies that it is not true. This is specifically what Ozzy shared:
“I heard recently that Eddie said he taught Randy all his licks … he never. To be honest, Randy didn’t have a nice thing to say about Eddie. Maybe they had a falling out or whatever, but they were rivals.”
The beef between Randy Rhoads and Eddie Van Halen has actually been brought up before; in the documentary Randy Rhoads: Reflections Of A Guitar Icon (which explores the legacy of Rhoads), an audio recording of Van Halen is featured, with the guitarist talking about Randy. Eddie shared the following about Rhoads (as transcribed by Blabbermouth):
“He was one guitarist who was honest, anyway. Because he said everything he did he learned from me. He was good. But I don’t really think he did anything that I haven’t done. And there ain’t nothing wrong with it. I’ve copied some other people, you know?”
Rhoads passed away on March 19th, 1982, and Eddie passed away on October 6th, 2020. Both Rhoads and Van Halen were two remarkably talented guitarists, their work having gone on to inspire a tremendous number of musicians. Their legacy will forever live on.
In other news related to Ozzy Osbourne – the metal legend recently shared how him and fellow Black Sabbath member Tony Iommi used to have a tumultuous relationship. In fact, Ozzy says that Tony used to “intimidate the shit” out of him. Black Label Society guitarist Zakk Wylde recently shared that the first time he ever listened to Ozzy’s music he turned into a “full-blown Satanist“! That is pretty wild!