Randy Rhoads’ Grave (San Bernardino)

Randy Rhoads. The first guitarist of Ozzy Osbourne band. Passed away in 1982. Revisiting the grave after 30 years and thinking the changes in the “exploration” process.

Randy Rhoads. One of the three major guitarists in Los Angeles club music scene from the late 1970s to the early 1980s, along with Eddie Van Halen and George Lynch. Quiet Riot’s first guitarist, or more simply, the first guitarist of Ozzy Osbourne band after Ozzy has started after Black Sabbath. He died in a plane crash on March 19, 1982.

Deceased person tend to be seen as heroes. However Ozzy Osbourne’s first two albums, “Blizzard of Ozz” and “Diary of a Mad Man”, I think you understand that his guitar play leaves a lasting impression on your ears. I first heard of Ozzy Osbourne through “Jake E Lee”, who replaced Randy Rhoads, and found out about Randy Rhoads. I cannot deny the fact that he influenced many musicians.

Now, I would like to describe about the location of Randy Rhoads’ grave. The first time I visited was in 1988. It hae been about 5 years since he passed away. There was no Internet at that time, so it was difficult to gather information.

First, to find out the location of the grave, I called the “Burn editorial department” of a heavy metal magazine in Japan and asked if they knew where it is. The person who answered the phone asked me to hold on for a moment. He hung up the phone and checked it with other person. The information he gave at that time was “San Bernardino”. The person on the phone continued, “Well, I do not know the name of the cemetery.” So, I decided to head to San Bernardino anyway.

San Bernardino is where big music festival called “US Festival” held in 1982 and 1983. The band “Quiet Riot” founded by Randy Rhoads, participated in Heavy Metal Day on May 29, 1983. Quiet Riot made a big after he died in a plane crash (The album “Metal Health” reached No.1 on the Billboard charts in the U.S. on March 11 1983, a first in the heavy metal genre).

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