What is Steve Vai’s opinion on Randy Rhoads and Ozzy Osbourne

Besides being the singer of Black Sabbath, the band that invented Heavy Metal music, Ozzy Osbourne also had a successful solo career that was first driven by the incredible guitarist Randy Rhoads on Ozzy’s first two albums “Blizzard Of Ozz” (1980) and “Diary Of a Madman” (1982).In an interview for the DVD special “Thirty Years the After The Blizzard” (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage) released back in 2011, also legendary guitarist Steve Vai (Frank Zappa, Alcatrazz and Whitesnake) gave his opinion on Randy Rhoads and Ozzy.

What Steve Vai said about Randy Rhoads and Ozzy Osbourne:

“The bizarre thing is, at face value, Ozzy (and) Randy they seem like very different people. Which is not uncommon for amazing chemistry for to happen. So as you look to the past, you see that most of the time there is a tension there between the lead singer and the guitar player. They perpetuate each other’s greatness. So I saw that with those two guys, because what Ozzy was capable of delivering. I’ve worked with him and I know. He’s fiercely confident in what he does, whatever you see on TV and whatever. Ozzy knows what he wants, man, and he knows how to get it.”

“When he goes to approach something he is very confident. Randy obviously was tremendously confident in what he was doing. So when you get those two kind fo entitites together, regardless of wheater they eat the same food or wear the same clothes, they perpetuate each other’s drive to be greater. So together they unfold each other’s potential and that’s what team greatness is about,” Steve Vai said.

Vai began working with Ozzy Osbourne in 1994, with whom he wrote and recorded the Ozzmosis album. Due to conflicts, the album was re-written and recorded with Zakk Wylde on guitar.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction

Guitarist Randy Rhoads was posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021 by Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello with the “Musical Excellence Award” prize, given to artists, musicians, songwriters and producers whose originality and influence have had a dramatic impact on music”

Morello talked about Rhoads, saying: “He revived Ozzy Osbourne’s career as his gunslinger sideman. And it was Randy Rhoads’ poster that I had on my wall. You could study Randy’s songs in a university-level musicology class and bang your heads to them in a 7-Eleven parking lot.”

“When it comes to musical excellence, there is no one more deserving of the highest echelon of recognition and praise. Now the incomparable Randy Rhoads stands where he belongs.”