no doubt that Randi was THE top dog in his time but he wasn't killed in a plane crash, however he was killed by a plane. I heard that one of the band crew was in the plane while randi and the band were ready to head in to the van waiting to take them to a motel when the guy in the plane had a Briliant idea (not really) to scare the crap outta them by powering up the plane well shit took a turn for the worse and it crashed into him in the van or something like that wasn't it?
No, he was in the aircraft, with another woman, I believe, and the pilot thought it would be cool to do some tricks and rolls and fly alongside the tour bus that Ozzy and Sharon were in. Eventually they crashed
RIP Randy
COLOSSUS OF RHOADS
Guitar icon Randy Rhoads has been dead 25 years, but in a San Bernardino cemetery, he lives forever
By Harvey M. Kahn.jpg)
It's been 24 years since that fateful day
You were scooped up and taken away
And there you would stay
I still hear the music you played!
As if it was just the other day
Your light shined bright
With all its might
And the music made us dance into the night
It filled us up with delight!
Love to you!
Mary, Berdoo
?Fan poetry recently left at the tomb of Randy Rhoads
As famed urban interment grounds go, Paris may have its P?re Lachaise. But San Bernardino has Mountain View Cemetery.
Like most memorial parks, both have lush acres of well-manicured green grass and gardens pockmarked with concrete and marble monuments to the dead. But both aren't renowned simply because of this alone?it's because of who's buried in them. At P?re Lachaise , there's Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf, Alice B. Toklas, Marcel Proust, Sarah Bernhardt, Maria Callas, Fr?d?ric Chopin, and, most famously, the much-graffitied final resting place of Jim Morrison. The celebs are a bit more B-grade at Mountain View?Wild West figurehead James Earp, actress Sunny Sue Johnson (she was in Flashdance ), Indy car driver Swede Savage.
There's one particular tomb in Mountain View that gets more attention than any other. It lures people from all around the globe, who pay tribute to its occupant by leaving behind lipstick-stained kisses on its sculpted marble base, full bottles of Jack Daniels in its vestibule, lighted memorial candles and tear-stained miss-you notes. And condoms?used ones, from amorous couples who've somehow gotten away with having sex on the concrete slab directly in front of the crypt.
Such is the eternal drawing power of Randy Rhoads.
Monday will mark the 25th anniversary of Rhoads' death in a Florida plane crash, an accident that occurred when the young guitar phenom was playing lead in the touring band for Ozzy Osbourne, with whom his legacy is most closely linked. Rhoads' riffs on Ozzy songs like ?Crazy Train,? ?Mr. Crowley? and ?Flying High Again,? and his session work on the Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman albums, influenced an entire generation of headbangers, even though Rhoads was really more of a classical music guy. What floored everyone a quarter-century ago was how he applied those classical techniques to heavy metal?in a genre often derided by rock snobs with a universe of synonyms for ?stupid,? here was a guy whose speedy, fretboard-burning talents were so obvious and overwhelming, it had to be seen?and heard?to be believed.
Born in Santa Monica and raised in the San Fernando Valley, Rhoads was close to his grandparents, who lived in San Bernardino, which is why he's interred at Mountain View. And on Monday, upwards of 1,000 people?some from Europe, Asia and South America?are expected to descend upon the cemetery.
?I've met thousands of people who've visited his memorial,? says Rhoads' boyhood friend and former Quiet Riot band mate Kelly Garni. (Rhodes was in Quiet Riot before their early-?80s slew of hit pop-metal singles.) ?It still amazes me how his popularity continues to grow.? Garni visits the Rhoads mausoleum at least once a year from his home in Henderson, Nevada.
An average of 200 people gather at the site every March 19. (Rhoads would have turned 50 last December 6.) According to cemetery head groundskeeper Lorrie Lowman, Rhoads' grave is by far the most visited.
?I'd never heard of him when he was alive, but I know who he is now. Sometimes I think he's as popular as Elvis Presley. Young couples come here from around the world just to sneak in and make love at his grave. We have to dispose of a lot of condoms,? explains Lowman, who's worked at Mountain View for 20 years. ?For as popular as he is, I'm surprised that there isn't one of those Behind the Music biographies on him. From what I've learned, he sure deserves a lot more.?
Lowman says she cares less about Ozzy Osbourne?however, some of her caretakers have seen him at the cemetery. According to 29-year employee Robert Hatt, Osbourne has been a regular visitor at the Rhoads tomb, yet strives not to be noticed. ?We talked years ago, but since, when Mr. Osbourne visits, I just nod or wave. I never approach him. He'll sneak in for a couple of minutes, usually in a plain-looking rental car. As far as I can tell, he's by himself and is very serious. You can tell he doesn't want to attract attention. He's for real,? says Hatt. His co-workers say they've spotted him around the time of Ozzfest, staged annually up the 215 at Hyundai Pavilion.
The Rhoads crypt has also become a hotbed of overzealous fans pilfering their own souvenirs. Brass nameplates and a decorative metal guitar illustration have vanished over the years. Heavy cement benches were also purloined, which caused the Rhoads family to install iron gating in front of the monument's vestibule, says Lowman.
?We perform a lot of extra maintenance around the Rhoads grave site?it's just part of our job. He has earned our respect, even though we never knew him.?
Lowman says that along with condoms, some visitors have left Bibles filled with marijuana, along with an abundance of beer and liquor bottles, thousands of guitar picks, and a moderate amount of money. When informed that the 25th anniversary of Rhoads' death is expected to draw massive crowds to Mountain View, Lowman blurts ?Oh shit.?
But she adds that her cemetery is more than willing to accommodate them. ?We don't even think about it. We'll set up tables and electrical outlets and anything else for a Rhoads tribute.?
?Randy Rhoads was a God and continues to be one,? says Mike Stewart, a radio personality at KCAL 96.7 for 31 years. ?I still get a lot of people calling in song requests, asking where he's buried and if it's alright to visit. Kids continue to adore him, but I'm not sure why. He was so big, though?it's great to have him here.?
Jim Hayes, 37, of San Bernardino, came to the Rhoads monument on a recent Saturday afternoon to pay tribute to ?the best.? Hayes says he was at Mountain View on the 20th anniversary of Rhoads' death and met Randy's brother, sister, and his mother, Delores Rhoads.
?Ozzy sent white gardenias,? Hayes says. ?I also met this guy from Japan who comes to San Bernardino every year.?
?I'm a Big Bopper/Buddy Holly-type guy,? says another visitor, Robert Delgado, 67, from
Fontana. ?This is my first time out here. I heard a lot about Randy Rhoads, but I know very little about him. I wanted to find out what everyone was talking about.?
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