Original subtitles

If you were to sit down and try and manufacture

what you think the epitome of a rock star should be,

Randy Rhoads.

Randy personified the "guitar hero."

But that's cheap talk when you use it to describe Randy Rhoads,

'cause he was so much bigger than that.

[Kathy Rhoads D’Argenzio] He was like a Mozart.

He was like a Beethoven.

The guitar was part of his soul.

[♪ energetic guitar riff playing]

[Zakk Wylde] '78, '79,

the new breed of heavy metal was coming in.

[Tommy Aldridge] And at that time, Ozzy was trying to get his feet under him

and he had his struggles.

[Sharon Osbourne] The guys in Black Sabbath said, "He's got to go."

And then to find Randy,

it was a gift from God.

[♪ "Crazy Train" playing]

Randy had given Ozzy a new lease on his career.

[Kathy] Ozzy truly cared for Randy,

and Randy really cared for him.

[fireworks whistling]

But things got crazy.

Here's this rock star who's made it big,

and it didn't fit right with him.

[Rudy Sarzo] He was getting fatigued from touring.

I could see that he just needed a break.

Randy didn't know how ugly this business can be.

[Rudy] He knew that there was so much more that he could do

as a musician,

but he did not have that opportunity.

[♪ pensive music playing]

[reporter] There was a tragedy here at Flying Baron Estates,

a single-engine aircraft cartwheeled,

after striking the tour bus

that in fact had Ozzy on board.

[Tommy] Ozzy was sitting on the ground.

He was in shock.

-We were all in shock. -[fire crackling]

It was just like a horrible dream,

a horrible, horrible dream.

-[cassette player clicks] -[♪ heavy metal music playing]

[audience cheering]

[♪ uplifting music playing]

It is my great honor

to officially induct

the greatest to ever lace 'em up

in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

The one, the only,

Ozzy Osbourne!

-Thank you. -[audience cheering]

I've been fortunate over the years

to play with some of the world's greatest guitar players,

[stammers] but I want to say one thing for a guy

by the name of Randy Rhoads.

[audience cheering]

If I hadn't have met Randy Rhoads,

I don't think I'd be sitting here now.

[audience cheering]

[Sharon] It's true.

Randy came along at a time

when Ozzy was so low, so depressed.

His hope had gone.

I'm Sharon Osbourne,

and I had the honor

of managing Randy Rhoads,

from 1980 till he died.

[♪ energetic guitar music playing]

Randy just lived and breathed his guitar.

It was an extension of him.

And Randy had a...

a calming influence on Ozzy.

Randy nurtured Ozzy's talent

like nobody had ever done.

And it was a great, great friendship

and working relationship.

[♪ "Crazy Train" playing]

♪ Maybe, yeah, it's not too late ♪

♪ To learn how to love and forget how to hate... ♪

[Tommy] Playing with Randy was, I would get chill bumps sometimes.

You know? It was incredible.

He'd play something, and it'd spark something in you

that I wouldn't otherwise play.

Don't know where it came from.

When you're in a musical context like that,

it's called "chemistry."

Well, it's a lot more than that. It's a spiritual thing for me.

There's something in his tone and his sound

and the way that he played and what he played

that I, I have not witnessed anywhere else on the planet.

[♪ energetic guitar music playing]

[Kathy] Music drove Randy.

It was ingrained in him.

[♪ hard rock riff playing]

[♪ light music playing]

My mom had a music school,

and she was a professional musician.

We call her the Boss Lady, she-- or the Pit Bull. [laughing]

She, she was pretty strict to us kids growing up.

It was like, "Okay, now you got to take lessons, you guys.

What do you want to pick?"

Of course, he picked the guitar.

He always, always, that's one thing about our childhood,

had a guitar in his hand,

and it sometimes, it could get annoying. [laughing]

He'd plug that in and be blasting it in the neighborhood.

And I cannot tell you how many times the cops came to the door,

pounding on the door,

because a neighbor would call and complain.

[Kelly Garni] Randy was so dedicated to the music.

So dedicated that he convinced me

that we shouldn't do anything else except this.

I was Randy's best friend.

We met in junior high school in seventh grade.

I learned how to play bass from Randy while he was learning his leads.

But the thing that drove our obsession

was when we saw Alice Cooper in concert.

♪ Well, we got no choice ♪

♪ All you girls and boys... ♪

[Kelly] When we saw Alice Cooper,

-we went, "That's us." -[audience cheering]

"That's what we want to do.

"We're going to be huge rock stars.

We're going to do everything we can to make that happen."

And we formed Quiet Riot.

[♪ energetic rock music playing]

It was very, very obvious that Randy got better every minute.

[♪ hard rock riff playing]

I mean, he was the whole show.

If anybody could steal a show, it was Randy.

[♪ guitar music playing]

[Kathy] This is what he's born to do, is perform

and be a performer.

[♪ light music playing]

I remember one day we were in the kitchen

and he was sitting at the counter,

and my mom said to him,

"You know, Randy, you really truly have a God-given talent."

And he just had tears rolling down his cheeks.

Randy and his mom had a really close relationship.

You know, he always respected her, which is true,

but he was almost-- she was almost like a mentor

for his career that he was building,

but he didn't even know that he was building a career.

♪ He says... ♪

Getting signed for us was an exercise in frustration.

And I personally felt that Kevin, our singer,

was our problem.

Kevin was real supportive of what the management

decided for us to do,

particularly the type of music they wanted us to play.

They'd say, "You guys need to be like the Bay City Rollers."

And I'm like...

♪ Dance with my baby till the night is through ♪

♪ On Saturday night, Saturday night ♪

"Bay City Rollers?

Man, we want to be Alice Cooper."

[laughing]

But Randy just kind of went with what Kevin was going along with,

and, you know, it began to cause problems in me and Randy's friendship,

which eventually led to lots of fistfights, arguments.

All the drama you can imagine, it was going down.

And Kevin, he went to the management

and he said, "Kelly's out of control, he's dangerous."

You know, and the management said, "Yeah, he's out of here."

So... [finger snaps] that was it.

♪ Feel so right ♪

♪ Feel so right ♪

My name is Rudy Sarzo,

and I played with Randy Rhoads in Quiet Riot,

from 1978 to 1979.

[♪ upbeat rock music playing]

In late 1979, record companies focused

on groups that were new wave and punk.

The music that we were making,

the image, everything about us,

to the music industry in Los Angeles,

we were dinosaurs.

So we, you know, we were like... [sighs]

we were disheartened.

[Kathy] Randy was very frustrated.

He really thought it was going to go somewhere,

he really did.

And finally one day, my mom said to him,

"You know, Randy, the reason Quiet Riot never made it

is 'cause that music just wasn't that good."

[laughing] And I think he was really crushed

because he thought, you know, they were going to make it.

But it's interesting how things work out

that then he gets the call from Ozzy.

[♪ suspenseful music playing]

It's the first festival that I've ever been to

where everything seems to be so beautiful and peaceful.

We just go and play our music really,

'cause that's all it's about, innit?

[Tommy] Black Sabbath, they were a big band back then.

Kick-ass players, man.

I mean, those tours and those records were huge.

Any band is like a marriage.

At the beginning, it's fantastic,

"We love each other," you're on the honeymoon period.

And then if you get success, it's just, "Yes, we're doing this forever."

"I love you, bro." "I love you, bro."

And then the rot sets in.

One gets more attention than the other one and they get envious.

And it's... it's inevitable,

and every band falls out.

[Ozzy Osbourne] I didn't get on with certain members of the band

and they didn't get on with me, and they didn't see eye to eye

like I was seeing eye to eye, and it was clashing.

[♪ pensive music playing]

[Sharon] It was three against one. They wanted him gone.

And then when he got let go from Sabbath,

he was alone totally.

Ozzy's always had a lack of self-confidence.

He's never really been, "I know I'm great.

I'm a great frontman.

I'm this, I'm that."

He's never been that sort of guy.

Back then, my dad was a manager

and was taking care of Black Sabbath.

And I used to do the day-to-day management.

The guys in Sabbath thought that we would drop Ozzy.

And... that just wasn't the case.

We all knew that Ozzy had a huge talent,

great charisma, and that people loved Ozzy.

So Sabbath went.

We kept Ozzy.

And Ozzy's music is guitar-based,

so, you know, you need that lead guitar player.

It was critical.

[Ozzy] I was looking for people for weeks,

and I'd given up all hope of ever finding anybody out there.

[Sharon] Everybody that had gone through,

just, you know, Ozzy never moved,

his head was down.

It was like, "Oh, here we go.

"It's another Eddie Van Halen wannabe,

and, you know, yada, yada."

[Kathy] When it was proposed to Randy to go on this audition,

Randy didn't want to go.

He wasn't a fan of Black Sabbath.

But my mom said to him,

"It's an opportunity to learn and grow,

and you can always do what you want later on the road."

And that's why I think he actually went, 'cause of my mom, 100%.

[♪ suspenseful music playing]

[Ozzy] Suddenly, this guy weighing about two ounces wet

suddenly knocked on the door with his guitar.

And I thought, "Wow."

[Randy Rhoads] I just brought a tune-up amp.

No effects, nothing. They said, "Okay, play."

I didn't know what to do, and I just started warming up.

[♪ energetic guitar music playing]

There was nobody that had a sound

that you instantly went,

"Oh, my God, who's playing that?"

♪♪

[Ozzy] I heard him play at four o'clock in the morning

when I was absolutely drunk out of my mind,

and I just couldn't believe what I was hearing.

And I says, "Well, you know, let's have a go."

[Sharon] Ozzy went home to Birmingham,

and then Randy followed, and they started writing together,

just the two of them.

[♪ rock music playing]

[Tommy] At that time, Ozzy had a following from Black Sabbath

and he was very well established, you know.

But Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi,

they were the guys that came up with the songs

and they were the impetus at Black Sabbath,

and songs are everything.

So that being said,

there was a lot of pressure on Ozzy

because he was coming out of that...

bubble of safety.

And what Randy was bringing to Ozzy's table was unknown.

♪♪

[Kathy] When Randy first went to England,

he had never really been away from home.

And he was-- Like, he was gone.

Like, they put it together very quickly.

[Ozzy] We really wanted to do something totally different.

And Randy's just a guy that's coming on and he's giving us all this enthusiasm

and the youth back to want to have a go, you know.

Randy asked Ozzy, "What do you want me to write?"

And Ozzy said, "Be yourself."

The fact that Randy was not a fanboy of Black Sabbath,

that really made him gel with Ozzy.

They were able to see each other as musicians, bandmates.

And this way, the band was like a clean slate.

Randy just knew how to work with him

and pull the best out of him.

And he'd got that nurturing aspect

from his mother being a music teacher.

He encouraged Ozzy, constantly.

It worked in every which way for the pair of them.

[Kathy] Once he went with Ozzy, he just, like, blossomed.

He needed that platform to grow,

and he didn't have that with Quiet Riot.

♪ Mr. Crowley ♪

♪ Won't you ride my white horse ♪

Ozzy's melody lines were better than ever.

And he was happy and he didn't feel self-conscious

and there was no bullying

and it was just fantastic.

It was much more melodic.

It was a whole new sound.

[♪ energetic guitar music playing]

They took the Sabbath

and made it more commercial.

And with Randy's spark,

it was like a total new lease on Ozzy's musical side of his life.

It was just... electric.

♪ Crazy ♪

♪ But that's how it goes ♪

♪ Millions of people... ♪

[Zakk] Randy's playing with Ozzy was just amazing.

He's just comin' from a whole nother...

a whole nother universe.

You know, his solos are just epic,

masterpiece songs within a song.

[♪ energetic guitar solo playing]

That was it, it was the end of Sabbath for us, for me,

and the beginning of Ozzy.

[♪ light music playing]

[Rudy] By the time that I joined the band,

there was already a camaraderie

between Sharon, Ozzy, and Randy.

It was the family.

[Tommy] At that time, I'm a freelance drummer

just looking for a gig, you know.

And I got a call and said would I be interested

in hooking up with Randy and Ozzy?

And I said, "Sure." So we showed up in LA

and we started rehearsing for the Blizzard of Ozz tour.

And so it was in that timeframe that I really got to know Randy

and his playing was allowing me

to be the best I could be in those, in those songs.

The album was starting to get some airplay,

and the shows were starting to really pick up.

Going from small little venues to bigger venues.

♪ I know that things are going wrong for me ♪

[audience cheering]

[presenter] Randy and Ozzy are here.

-Hi! -[presenter] It's Ozzy Osbourne

and the Blizzard of Ozz in town tomorrow night

at the Auditorium Theater, and they'll also...

[Rudy] It was amazing how Sharon

was able to build the band.

The only way to do it was with constant touring.

But sometimes when you're on the road,

it can be very, very tough, especially back then.

[Kathy] Randy loved Ozzy,

but Ozzy's at that period in his life,

and it's well documented, he was drinking

and things got crazy.

[Ozzy] Nobody under the influence of any alcohol or drug

is the same person.

It's like the total Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde syndrome.

[sparks crackling]

I mean, I brought by some fireworks one time.

So I'm letting these rockets fly down the corridor of this hotel.

And I'm drunk as a fool.

Next minute, handcuffs, back of the car,

jail for the night.

I am banned from Salt Lake City.

[♪ pensive music playing]

[Kathy] Well, that was hard for Randy, you know.

It wasn't about the partying part for him.

I'm not saying he was an angel,

but Randy was very serious and focused and...

and I think that's why he started taking the classical lessons.

[Tommy ] We would be on the road, and Randy would have his itinerary

and he would be phoning ahead,

trying to book time with a classical teacher in, in...

mostly in major markets,

like Chicago or New York or bigger cities,

'cause that's where the "really" good teachers,

'cause it was hard for Randy to find a teacher

that knew more than he knew.

It wasn't till I heard him playing his classical in the hotel room, you know,

just-just jamming around on his classical.

It was transformational.

It was just like,

that's what God put him on the planet to do.

[Sharon] There's not many people that I know would've done that,

actually called up a guitar teacher when you're in a hit rock band.

It's just not very common. [chuckles]

[reporter] Randy Rhoads has plenty to be pleased about

since he teamed up with Ozzy Osbourne.

The editors of Guitar Player Magazine

have just presented the hard-driving guitarist

with the Best New Talent Award for 1981.

[band clapping]

[Randy] Makes you realize there's a lot of responsibility,

and I want to really get myself together

and work harder, you know,

'cause I'm really proud and honored,

and... I don't want to stop there, you know.

[audience cheering and applauding]

[Kathy] Here's this rock star who's made it big,

people are recognizing him now,

and it didn't fit right with him.

[Rudy] I don't think he ever saw himself as a rock star at all, you know.

He saw himself as a musician.

And he was deeply devoted to the band.

There's no question about that.

He knew that there was so much more

that he could do as a musician,

but first, he needed to be educated.

[reporter] Ozzy Osbourne is currently on tour

promoting his newest album, Diary of a Madman.

His stage set is a $250,000 haunted mansion,

complete with trolls, secret passageways,

and a giant mechanical hand.

[♪ suspenseful music playing]

Let me see your fucking hands!

[audience cheering]

The Diary tour was actually a bigger tour

because there was the history of the first record.

And we'd gone out and done some really good shows,

and we were starting to get some real momentum, you know.

[Rudy] By the time we went out for Diary,

within a few months,

we were headlining arenas

all over the United States.

[♪ energetic rock music playing]

♪ Let's go ♪

[♪ rhythmic percussion music playing]

[sound engineer] One, two, two.

[♪ guitar riff playing]

[Sharon] You know, you get that person

that's like the perfect rhythm for you in your life,

and we all had this rhythm going,

which was amazing.

And, you know, I'd got things planned for Randy.

Randy was signed to me for five years.

There was never anything but love between the three of us.

No, I go-- I've got ideas for two albums,

which I'm hoping to record as soon as this tour finishes,

which will be about September of this year.

Hopefully, it'll be released around January or February next year.

[♪ pensive music playing]

[Sharon] My father had Ozzy signed for I think five albums.

We'd given him two.

We were leaving

'cause he wasn't paying anybody any royalties.

And, um, we... we came

to an agreement

that if he had a live Black Sabbath album,

he would take it as us leaving.

Do a show live,

record it, put it out.

We weren't even going to promote it.

It was like, "Okay, take it, we're gone.

It was Ozzy's ticket to get away from my father.

And getting rid of my father...

was freedom for everybody.

[Tommy] Randy was the goose that laid the golden eggs

when it comes to songs.

So there wasn't any golden eggs

that needed to be laid for that album to happen.

[Sharon] Randy didn't want to play Black Sabbath music,

and I totally, totally get it.

"I want to do new music."

I'm like, "We'll do that later. Let's do this now.

Get it over with, move on, next."

[Tommy] He came to me and he said, "I don't want to do that."

That was Randy's position.

It was just a musical place that he wasn't interested in going in.

And Ozzy was very unhappy because there was a little of a alienation

within, you know, the camaraderie of the group.

[Sharon] Randy's experience of business was,

he was very naïve.

So he should've been.

He was a little kid, wide-eyed,

didn't know how ugly this business can be.

And at that time,

being involved with my father, it was very threatening.

And so it was very hard on, on all of us.

[Rudy] You know, he was all about musical integrity.

And I think Randy,

at that moment that that project was presented

to go in and record the Black Sabbath material,

he, he had just had road fatigue.

I could see that he just needed a break.

[♪ pensive music playing]

[Kathy] He was a very homesick person.

I know how happy he was when he came home.

As a matter of fact,

one of the last times he came home,

we were standing at that counter.

That's where she told him, "You have a God-given talent."

That's where everything happened, at that counter.

Anyway, so we're standing there talking,

and all of a sudden he goes, "Oh, no,"

Randy's cigarette had burned a hole in the counter.

And he was mortified. [laughing]

And he's like, "Oh, my God, what do I do? [laughing]

Mom's going to be so pissed at me."

I said, "Don't worry, Randy,

"we'll just cover it up with some stuff. [laughing]

Don't worry about it."

That's what we did.

And dang it, that-- it's still there.

That was the last time I saw him, March 15, 1982.

[audience cheering]

[Rudy] My memories of the very last show,

it was just another great show.

I could see that Randy and Ozzy

were, were getting closer than they had been.

The tension was gone in the bus.

Randy, he had agreed to make the record,

and there was an air of camaraderie.

[bus engine rumbling]

[♪ solemn music playing]

[Tommy] It was a long bus drive.

-Yeah. -[cassette player clicking]

♪ Mental wounds not healing ♪

[Tommy] I think we listened to some of the show tape

from that night, of course, we recorded every night, on a cassette.

It was part of the ritual of the bus drive, you know.

[♪ pensive music playing]

[Ozzy] On that last bus journey

from Knoxville, Tennessee to Orlando, Florida,

he, he turned onto me and said he wanted to quit rock and roll,

and he wanted to go to UCLA

and get a degree in classical guitar.

And I said to him, "Dude, you got the rest of your life to do that."

And he wasn't really into-- He-he-he wasn't a guy

that was into being a mega, really, rock star.

He tried it, he was a success of it, and, you know, he wanted to move on.

♪♪

[Sharon] We were traveling to Florida,

and the air conditioning had broken.

And we got to the base

where they were then going to fix the air conditioning.

And, unbeknownst to me,

not only did this bus company rent out buses,

but they rented out helicopters

and little planes.

I never allowed anybody

that wasn't working personnel

to travel on the bus.

But the tour manager

had allowed the bus driver's wife to travel on the bus.

Unbeknown to us, she wanted a divorce from him.

I was not a party to it.

But they were going back and forth

about their divorce while they were driving.

And this bus driver...

was a pilot.

We never knew.

And apparently, I'm told,

that this bus driver,

who had been taking coke...

told everybody that he could take them up in a plane.

I don't know the conversations

'cause Ozzy and I were in the back fast asleep.

[plane engine whirring]

[Tommy] It was early in the morning and we'd been traveling all night,

and I'd heard the plane buzzing.

Randy came in and he said, "Come on, T, let's go for a joyride."

And I said to him, "I don't want to get up and go get on a plane right now."

And Randy just, he just chuckled.

And he's talking,

he's fading out as he goes out the front door of the bus, you know.

That was the last conversation I had with Randy.

I had a lady that worked with me called Rachel.

And she was not only somebody who worked for me,

but she became like a mum that I never had.

And I adored her,

and so did Ozzy.

And... she ended up

going up in the plane with Randy.

[♪ ominous music playing]

I hear the plane buzzing, and I go to get up and make a cup of tea,

and right as I'm making a cup of tea, then bam.

And I spilled hot tea on me

because it bolt-- the bus kind of jolted like that.

And this really strong smell of fiberglass.

And there was a little gaping hole in the top

that appeared behind me on the top of the bus.

Apparently, the bus driver's wife had gone outside the bus

and was standing by the door of the bus.

And the plane came down, hit the bus,

and that's what woke Ozzy and I.

The bus kind of tilted like this.

[Tommy] I run out of the bus,

there's this big black cloud of smoke coming up from--

it looks like it's coming from the top of the bus.

[fire crackling]

There was this terrible smell of fuel.

And all we could see was fire.

I just went out,

and the tour manager was on the grass

with his hands over his head.

The other guys were running around screaming.

I kept thinking, "You're asleep, you're asleep.

Wake up, wake up."

[fire crackling]

[Rudy] I couldn't believe what was, what was happening.

I couldn't believe the possibility

of what was happening,

'cause every time it's like, "This is what's happening,"

it's like, "No, this is not what's happening."

I was trying to reimagine what happened as being something else.

And then it just goes back to, "No, this is what's happening."

[Tommy] It's really hard for me to recall because I went into shock, literally.

We were all in shock and didn't know it at the time.

It was a slow realization that Randy had been killed.

[fire crackling]

It was like a horror movie.

Body parts.

And, um...

I was screaming at the tour manager.

And I can remember taking my shoe off

and whacking him across the head.

[Tommy] When Sharon realized that Randy and Rachel

had been killed, she came unglued.

She just went off on our tour manager,

screaming, "How could you let that baby get on that plane?"

[fire crackling]

[Sharon] I ran into the house

where the present owner and his wife

were in the house.

She was washing up, and he was on the phone.

And I'll never forget it, he was on the phone,

and he had his feet on a footstool in the house.

And I'm like,

"You've gotta call the police, call the police."

He's going, "Aw, I'm doing it, ma'am, I'm doing it."

And she's washing up.

And I'm like, "What the fuck are you two doing?

"There are people dead, there's a fire.

"What the fuck are you doing?

We need help. Help us."

And it was like a Fellini movie.

It was moving slow,

just like a dream.

And you were just trying to make it stop, this madness,

nothing made sense.

He was on the ground with-- sitting on the ground.

He was in shock.

[♪ pensive music playing]

[reporter] Randy Rhoads, lead guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne's band,

has been killed, along with two others,

in a fiery plane crash in Leesburg, Florida.

It was just like a horrible dream,

a horrible, horrible dream.

We were treated like shit.

The local sheriff was just abusive and foul.

And a million different stories coming out that we were fucking around.

Nobody was fucking around anything.

[Rudy] It took a while to get a clear picture

of what actually happened.

And I was told that the plane's coming in like this,

perpendicular,

that the tip of the wing of the plane

clipped, hit the bus.

That's how the window got shattered.

And then it flipped over the bus,

hit trees, 'cause the bus was parked like this.

It hit the trees and then from the trees,

it crashed onto the garage.

And there were a couple of vehicles in the garage,

and they exploded on impact.

Yes, uh, it is in my opinion,

that is a really strong possibility.

She was standing right there in front,

you know, right there in the doorway.

You know, so you're just trying to put things together.

Why Andrew decided to, all of a sudden,

after driving all those hours, to get up in a plane, twice?

You know, certain things just don't, don't add up.

In a situation like that, there's more questions than answers.

And even if you get an answer, it just leads to another question.

No, a-a replacement hasn't been determined yet,

but a decision will be made

in the course of the next few days.

[Rudy] We were beat up emotionally.

The police, after asking us questions and so on,

released us.

And we went to a nearby hotel.

But, you know, the walls are caving in.

You know?

So, I just get out of the room,

walk down the block.

And there's a church.

I say, "Okay, let me get some solace here, some comfort."

I entered the church

and immediately go to, like, the first pew.

And I kneel and put my head down.

Then I hear this wailing, moaning agony.

And I-I just had to raise my head.

And it was Ozzy...

at the very front.

We were all in shock for so long,

for so long.

And then you have to go back...

and try and make sense of a story to Randy's mum.

[crying] Excuse me.

-[interviewer] It's alright. -[assistant] Can I go in, please?

[interviewer] Yes, of course, come on set.

Have we got a tissue, Mel?

[assistant] We don't have long left, guys.

[interviewer] Okay, I only have a few questions left.

[assistant] Thank you.

[interviewer] Alright.

Now you know why I didn't want to talk about Randy.

[♪ solemn music playing]

[Kathy] I went up to my mom's...

[sighs]

[crying] walked in that door.

I'll never forget my mom sitting in this chair.

There was the most blank expression on her face.

I ran over to her, and I crawled in her lap.

Just sat there.

It was horrible.

'Cause she just was, like, in so, so much shock

and so... so much disbelief.

It was like, "Mom, breathe, breathe."

I thought she was literally going to have a heart attack and die.

And it's just the worst day of my life ever.

[Richard] At the time, I was just trying to be there

as a family member and help out.

And, uh, you know, whatever they needed, I was there.

We had to go get the, uh, gear,

his amps and his guitars and all his stuff.

So I helped-- me, Kathy, and, uh, Mrs. Rhoads

drove there in my dad's truck.

And it was really sad driving there.

Nobody talked in the car. It was just so, so--

Like, everybody was so somber.

[♪ pensive music playing]

[Kathy] Driving that equipment in the back of the truck coming home,

that was just, oh, my God.

[crying] They'll never be played again.

[Kelly] The family...

they were never the same, you know.

Uh, i-it...

Of course, it's gonna tear 'em apart, and it did.

And especially his mother was never the same.

And, you know, uh, I felt-- I felt for Ozzy,

because I know how much it hurt me,

so I really know it, it really hurt Ozzy.

[audience cheering and applauding]

And when I saw Ozzy on Letterman,

he looked like he was just about to break down.

He came pretty close.

And the last week, guys, the people out there,

I've lost two of the greatest people in my life.

But I-I'm going to continue

because Randy would've liked me to continue,

-so would Rachel. -[David Letterman] Mm-hmm.

And I'm not going to stop because you can't kill rock and roll.

[Sharon] I was terrified because I knew if Ozzy stopped,

I'd never get him back out there again.

I would've never gotten him back out there...

ever.

Sharon kept the whole thing together.

The whole thing moving.

We knew that if Ozzy went home,

canceled the tour,

he would've drank himself to death.

[Ozzy] I started this whole new thing with Randy,

and Randy was like my younger brother, you know.

I mean, it was a trag-- a terrible tragedy.

I'm still in shock from it, actually.

[Tommy] How are we going to carry on or what was the next act

in the play after Randy passed? That's...

Whoa, it's a good one, man.

Trying to get out and do those dates that we did

shortly after Randy's passing, what kind of pressure that was.

It was immense because people wanted the magic

that only Randy Rhoads could bring to that music.

This is one thing that it took me years to understand,

but I knew about it,

but to fully understand it... decades later,

is the fact that it's our responsibility,

the ones who are left behind...

to celebrate the memory and the music

of those... that go before us.

[Tommy] Ozzy had a lot of pressure

and a lot of, lot of weight on his shoulders, you know.

He had to navigate that loss.

And even knowing full well

that Randy Rhoads would never be replaceable.

There were a couple of really, really capable musicians

that came in after Randy's passing.

But we didn't have that force field around us.

[♪ energetic guitar music playing]

Randy was the heartbeat of the whole operation.

And with that missing, it was tough. It was tough.

[♪ solemn music playing]

[Sharon] You don't get over, you don't forget.

You just try and, um, get through every day.

[Ozzy] I loved him as a person, I loved him as a human being.

He was the first guy that ever,

person that came into my life

and gave me hope.

[Kelly] Randy saved him.

And Ozzy, I think, did everything he could to always put Randy

as a forefront of everything he's done.

Ozzy has always been very, very faithful,

loyal, and sincere about his feelings about Randy.

I appreciate that.

It's just like with Jimi Hendrix.

I mean, you know, Jimi had three years

and all that, that body of work,

and it's just, you know,

that's how much of a meteor that he made.

And same thing I think with Randy.

He was insanely brilliant.

[Rudy] When I joined Ozzy in 1981,

every night, Randy,

it was like going up a ladder musically.

He would get higher, going to a whole different level,

every single night.

It's one thing hearing his record, and you go, "Oh, man."

It's one thing hearing it on the radio.

But when you're wrapped up in it and you're immersed in it,

when you're right at the source of the stream,

of the living water... [chuckles]

I mean, it's supernatural, man.

[Ozzy] He was a special, very special person.

I-I-I like to think that he was too good for this world.

[Kathy] He was on another path at the end,

and he wanted to try and explore and spread his wings.

And that's the tragedy of him,

he didn't get to really fulfill

his true potential.

He wasn't done, and he was only beginning.

[Sharon] I think about Randy all the time,

and love... that he's not forgotten.

Music lovers want to know about him.

He's become this mystical little guy

that not many people knew well,

and he will live on forever.

Music is something that doesn't die.

After we've gone, it will live on.

♪♪