RUDY SARZO Says RANDY RHOADS-EDDIE VAN HALEN 'Rivalry' Was 'A Myth': 'People Don't Know The Difference Between An Opinion And A Fact'

In a new interview with Gastão Moreira of Brazil's Kazagastão, legendary hard rock bassist Rudy Sarzo, who played with iconic guitarist Randy Rhoads in QUIET RIOT from 1978 to 1979 and again in Ozzy Osbourne's band from 1981 until Rhoads's death in a plane accident in 1982, was asked if there was a rivalry between Randy and Eddie Van Halen. Rudy responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "No, that's... No, I think it's a myth. A myth that people... We're in a time in history where alternate realities are very common. People invent things to suit their own journey in life. People don't know the difference between an opinion and a fact. So they'll make a statement based on an opinion to somebody who has experienced what they're talking about, because they're so programmed to believe an opinion rather than a fact."

Earlier this year, QUIET RIOT's original bassist Kelly Garni told the "Booked On Rock" podcast that VAN HALEN and QUIET RIOT knew of each other, even though they only shared the stage one time while they were coming up on the Sunset Strip, on April 23, 1977 at Glendale Community College in Glendale, California.

"At some point, we became well aware of VAN HALEN," Garni said. "Especially when we were at the Starwood, as we were for a number of years. And we knew they were playing down the street at Gazzarri's, which wasn't really our type of a club. Because the Starwood was. Of course, the Whisky was the Whisky, but it had more of a punk rock scene going on there. So, we kind of avoided that place. The punkers didn't like guys that looked like us either, so you got the jocks and the punkers wanting to kill you."

Garni, who was QUIET RIOT's bassist from 1975 to 1978 and played on the group's first two albums, 1978's "Quiet Riot" and "Quiet Riot II", which were released only in Japan, went on to say that there was " no competition" between Eddie and Randy. "And most certainly, there was no competition in Randy's world," he explained. "Because Randy didn't compete. It just wasn't in him to try to compete. He couldn't. The way his brain was wired, is he could not form the thought, 'Oh, I'm gonna be better than that guy.'"

As for whether Eddie and Randy ever met, Kelly said: "[Randy] went down to Gazzarri's because people were talking about this guy, and Randy said, 'Well, I'll go see what the deal is.' So he went there, him and his girlfriend Jan, and he wanted to meet him. He saw him play, and he went, 'Yeah, okay, the guy's good.' And so when they got all done, Randy was trying to get backstage to meet him, and he did get back there."

"You gotta remember, VAN HALEN was doing all cover tunes at this point," Garni continued. "Every once in a while, they'd sneak in one of their originals. But that was the deal at Gazzarri's, is a more upscale crowd went there, that weren't the rowdy, unpredictable, way-underage bunch at the Starwood.

"So he did get back there, but Eddie was acting kind of crazy and bouncing off of walls in his underwear," Kelly recalled. "And Randy was, like, 'Oh, okay. Well, not the best time to meet this guy.' So that was his opinion. He said, 'Yeah, he was really good. But he looked kind of nutty.'"

Rhoads's pre-Ozzy band QUIET RIOT had been gigging on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California at the same time as VAN HALEN. Although both Rhoads and Van Halen later became some of the most influential guitarists of the 20th century, playing with a similar flare and incorporating finger-tapping into their fleet-fingered solos, Eddie found commercial success before Rhoads, due in part to the fact that VAN HALEN landed a record deal years before QUIET RIOT did.

In a 2022 interview with Rolling Stone, Ozzy discussed the supposed cross-town rivalry Rhoads, the first guitarist Osbourne worked with after BLACK SABBATH, had with Van Halen.

"I heard recently that Eddie said he taught Randy all his licks … he never," Osbourne told Rolling Stone. "To be honest, Randy didn't have a nice thing to say about Eddie. Maybe they had a falling out or whatever, but they were rivals."

The rivalry between Rhoads and Van Halen was explored in the documentary "Randy Rhoads: Reflections Of A Guitar Icon", which was released in May 2022. The film contains archive audio of Van Halen discussing Rhoads, saying, "He was one guitarist who was honest, anyway. Because he said everything he did he learned from me.

"He was good," Van Halen continued. "But I don't really think he did anything that I haven't done. And there ain't nothing wrong with it. I've copied some other people, you know?"

Randy's friend Kim McNair also spoke about the Rhoads-Van Halen rivalry in "Randy Rhoads: Reflections Of A Guitar Icon", reflecting: "This was the years of guitar heroes. To a large degree, bands were judged on their guitar player. I think all the guitar players in town kept up on each other."

Meanwhile, QUIET RIOT fan club president Lori Hollen said that at some of the band's early shows, "we would see David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen there, which was always interesting to me. Because I know Randy never went to see them play. But they would always come to see QUIET RIOT and Randy play."

Elsewhere in the film, Rhoads's guitar tech Brian Reason recalled how he used to stick a picture of Eddie Van Halen to Randy's wah pedal. "He wasn't very excited about [it], but it was in the perfect place," Reason explained, "because every time he stomped on his wah wah pedal, he stomped on it as if he wanted to crush it."

In a 1982 interview with Guitar World magazine, Rhoads said: "I have my own personality on the guitar but as of yet I don't think I have my own style. For instance, I do a solo guitar thing in concert, and I do a lot of the same licks as Eddie Van Halen. Eddie is a great player, but it kills me that I do that. For me it's just flash that impresses the kids. I'm trying to make a name for myself as fast as I can. I wish I could take time and come up with something that nobody else has done. But that's gonna take a few years yet."

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.

Eddie passed away in October 2020 at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California. The 65-year-old axeman died from complications due to cancer, his son confirmed.