BILLY IDOL Guitarist STEVE STEVENS On The Legacy Of RANDY RHOADS - "A True Musician Always Wants To Get Better And Gain More Knowledge... So, I Was Obviously A Fan"

40 years ago earlier this month marked the tragic loss of guitarist Randy Rhoads (Ozzy Osbourne, Quiet Riot), who died in a plane crash on March 19, 1982 at the age of only 25.

Rhoads treated the guitar as a craft, applying his classical training to evolving hard rock work that more closely resembled arrangements and compositions than off-the-cuff riffs.

Rhoads mother Delores, who held a bachelor’s degree in music, opened a music school called Musonia in North Hollywood, California in 1948, where Rhoads was schooled as a child in the folk and classical tradition before ever picking up an electric guitar. He went on to teach at the school himself, one which is still in operation under the guidance of his brother Kelle Rhoads.

“I remember reading an interview with [Randy] where he said he was seeking out teachers while he was out on the road,” Billy Idol guitarist Steve Stevens tells Forbes. “He’s playing huge arenas with Ozzy and he’s still taking lessons and still learning. That, to me, is the indication of a true musician. A true musician always wants to get better and gain more knowledge. So, I was obviously a fan,” said the guitarist. “His solos were not meandering, improvised, off-the-cuff things. They were compositions within the songs themselves. And that probably hearkens back to his classical background.”

This year marks the 40th for Stevens alongside Billy Idol. Like Rhoads, Stevens picked up an acoustic guitar first, schooled in the flamenco style, and does most of his writing with Idol on acoustic guitar.

Read the complete interview with Steve Stevens at Forbes.com.