Ozzy Osbourne Says Eddie Van Halen And Randy Rhoads Were Arch Enemies

Ozzy Osbourne recently sat down for an interview with Revolver and made a statement about the relationship between Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads.

Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads were both musicians in the rock scene during the same era. While the former gained prominence towards the mid-’70s and carried it to a global scale with Van Halen, the latter was active on stage with his band Quiet Riot in the late ’70s and also made a name for himself as the co-writer and guitarist of Ozzy Osbourne.

The two were often compared to each other both in the media and in fan disputes, due to the similarity in their guitar playing technique, namely tapping. These discussions flared up again when a recent documentary touched on the same subject. ‘Randy Rhoads: Reflections On A Guitar Icon’ was released earlier this year. In the documentary, it is mentioned that Van Halen had accused Rhoads of stealing the technique he had invented and claimed that he had learned everything he knew from him.

In a recent interview with Revolver, Ozzy Osbourne also joined the debate. During the conversation, Osbourne confirmed the rivalry between Van Halen and Rhoads, stating that the two were ‘arch-enemies.’ He added that Rhoads didn’t have much to say about Van Halen. Although he did not say anything about who learned the tapping technique from whom, he said that Van Halen took this technique to a very advanced level and that Rhoads could also do it, but preferred to shift to a different style.

Here is what Osbourne said on Randy Rhoads and Eddie Van Halen feud:

“They were arch-enemies. Randy didn’t have a lot to say about Eddie. They were very, very similar guitar players. Eddie took that tapping thing to another level. Randy could do that, but he liked people like Leslie West.”

Randy Rhoads unfortunately passed away in a plane crash while touring with Osbourne at the age of only 25. Although Ozzy Osbourne confirmed their rivalry, Van Halen had spoken about the situation in a softer tone. In a statement after the tragic accident, he had said that Rhoads was an honest musician and a good person. He had also revealed that Rhoads himself had already admitted that he had learned the tapping technique from himself in his previous statements.