RANDY RHOADS 'Distortion Plus' Pedal Coming From DUNLOP In 2023

The family of Ozzy Osbourne's late guitarist Randy Rhoads has collaborated with Dunlop, a manufacturer of musical accessories, on a new Randy Rhoads Distortion Plus pedal, to be released in 2023.

The news of a new Rhoads pedal was shared by Randy's sister Kathy Rhoads D'Argenzio on Tuesday (December 6) via her Instagram. She wrote in part: "Today would have been Randy's 66th birthday and it seems like the perfect day to make a special announcement.

"We've been working with Jimi Dunlap and his team for quite some time now and we are happy to officially announce a Future 'Randy Rhoads Distortion Plus Pedal!'

"Jimi and his team recently came down to check out Randy's pedal board. For the first time in over forty years it was intricately examined, filmed, recorded, and documented at 'Musonia.' They have patiently awaited its return from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (Randy always referred to it as 'The Chip Pan!!')

"Today seemed like the perfect day to celebrate all Randy did for Rock N Roll and guitar players around the World. Be on the lookout for this pedal, upcoming in 2023!! His Music lives on….."

Rhoads and two others were killed on March 19, 1982 when the small plane they were flying in at Flying Baron Estates in Leesburg, Florida struck Osbourne's tour bus, then crashed into a mansion. Rhoads was 25 years old.

In his "Biography: The Nine Lives Of Ozzy Osbourne" special, Ozzy stated about first meeting Rhoads after his departure from BLACK SABBATH: "I knew instinctively that he was something extra special. He was like a gift from God — we worked so well together. Randy and I were like a team.

"One thing that he gave to me was hope, he gave me a reason for carrying on," Ozzy added. "He had patience with me, which was great. He was great to work with. He pulled the best out of me. We had a lot of fun."

Rhoads's death had a tremendous impact on Osbourne's life. "I lost a dear friend in my life — I miss him terribly," Ozzy said. "I just bathed my wounds with alcohol and drugs."

"The day that Randy Rhoads died was the day a part of me died," he added.

In October 2021, Randy was posthumously inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Rhoads received the Musical Excellence Award at last year's event, which was held at Cleveland, Ohio's Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

The Musical Excellence Award is given to artists, musicians, songwriters and producers whose originality and influence creating music have had a dramatic impact on music.

Rhoads was inducted into the Rock Hall by Morello who stated in a video message. "Randy Rhoads is a peerless talent. He revived Ozzy Osbourne's career as his gunslinger sideman. And it was Randy Rhoads's 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 7-11 parking lot."

Also offering a video tribute was METALLICA's Kirk Hammett, who stated about Randy's death: "All of a sudden, the curtain came down unexpectedly and the show was over before it really, really got going." Wylde spoke highly about his predecessor, saying "Randy, hands down, sits at" the round table of greatness in the Hall Of Fame alongside Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Eddie Van Halen.

Rhoads played on Osbourne's seminal records "Blizzard Of Ozz" (1980) and "Diary Of A Madman", influenced many musicians and is considered one of the greatest guitartists of all time. His death was a huge shock to the world and Ozzy wrote in his autobiography "I Am Ozzy" that he almost quit music after Randy's passing.

Shortly after Rhoads's induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame was announced, Ozzy told Rolling Stone: "I knew him for a very short amount of time. But what he gave me in that short amount of time was immeasurable in fucking greatness. To get somebody like Randy Rhoads to play on two albums, and for those two albums to sound as good as the day they were recorded, is something else. And I'm forever in gratitude for that. God only knows where that man would be today. The very fact that he’s not here to breathe the air is just a fucking crime.

"Thank God that he's getting recognized by the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. He finally got there in the end. I'm sad that his mother was not alive to see it, because he was very close to his mom. It shows that he's not been forgotten. He was a dedicated, true musician, and he was a lovely guy. I still think about him all the time."