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Randy Rhoads

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Randy Rhoads
Name: Randy Rhoads
DOB: December 6, 1956
From: Santa Monica, CA
Bands: Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne
Guitars: Jackson, Sandoval Vee, Les Paul
Amplifiers: Marshall

March 19, 1982, “The day the music died”. That fateful day, Randy Rhoads was killed in a senseless accident involving a small airplane and his band’s tour bus. Rhoads was only 25 at the time of his death.

Randy Rhoads was born on December 6, 1956 in Santa Monica, California. His mother Delores essentially raised Randy after his father left. Delores owned a music school in North Hollywood called Musonia and Randy began taking folk guitar lessons there when he was about 7. The first guitar that Randy used to practice was an acoustic Gibson that had belonged to his grandfather. Randy found his mother’s semi-acoustic Harmony Rocket guitar at age 12 and an obsession began. He took lessons at his mother’s school until his teacher felt that Randy had already learned everything that he could teach him.

Randy joined his first band when he was 14. Randy’s mother still greatly influenced Randy’s music and he named the band Violet Fox after his mother’s middle name, Violet. Randy played the rhythm guitar for Violet Fox and they were together for about 5 months. Randy’s next lineup of bands included “Mildred Pierce” and “The Katzenjammer Kids” before he teamed up with bassist Kelly Gami to coordinate Quiet Riot in 1976. They added vocalist Kevin DuBrow to the mix and found a lineup that worked. Randy supported himself by teaching lessons at his mother’s school while he played with Quiet Riot at night. Although Quiet Riot found success quickly with their live performances, they had some struggles getting signed to a record label. They were ecstatic to receive an offer from Casablanca records, but then Casablanca changed their minds. Next they were officially signed by Buddah Records, and that company went bankrupt. After more frustrations with American record labels, Quiet Riot signed up with CBS/Sony in Japan and released their music overseas. They were very well received in Japan, but the group was never able to tour abroad. They continued to play packed concerts at bars, clubs and high school auditoriums in California. During his stint with Quiet Riot, Randy helped design his trademark black and white polka dot flying “V” guitar. He worked with Karl Sandoval to create the custom design and paid $738 for the finished product in 1979. Supposedly, his first performance with the guitar was in Los Angeles at the “Whisky a go-go”.

It was fate when Randy Rhoads heard that Ozzy Osbourne, the former lead singer of Black Sabbath, was trying to form a new band. Rhoads’ friend Dana Strum suggested that he audition to work with Ozzy. Even though Rhoads was fairly satisfied playing with Quiet Riot, he thought he would meet Ozzy and give it a shot. Rumor has it that all Rhoads had to do was start warming up and Ozzy was immediately blown away. Ozzy invited Rhoads to join his band and Randy became Ozzy’s lead guitarist at the age of 22.

Since Ozzy Osbourne was from the UK, the band traveled to Europe to begin work on their first album. They produced the music for the Blizzard of Ozz album in a relatively short amount of time. Their first concert ever was performed at the Apollo Theater in Glasgow, Scotland where they began to break box office records. The album was released shortly thereafter and the Ozzy Osbourne band toured throughout the U.K., causing record sales to shoot through the roof. When Randy returned home to California for Christmas in 1980, he worked with Grover Jackson to begin the process of creating another signature guitar, the white “flying V”.

The Ozzy Osbourne band went back to the studio to record their second album in the spring of 1981. They were in a rush to create the album and get it out before their US tour, and the band members had mixed feelings about the end result of Diary of a Madman. The tour bumped up sales for Blizzard of Ozz and the album went gold in 100 days.

While Randy Rhoads played with the Ozzy Osbourne band, they released “Mr. Crowley”, which was an EP that included tracks from live performances recorded while the band was touring in the UK. This album holds a place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest selling picture disk of all time. The Ozzy Osbourne band started to see major success when they began their second tour in the United States to support Diary of a Madman.

Blizzard of Ozz was doing great and albums were flying off the shelves, so when the band set out to tour, fans were excited and showed up in droves. The concert kicked off in San Francisco, and Randy earned Guitar Player Magazine’s Best New Talent Award backstage. The tour was extremely successful, although followed by controversy as some cities boycotted the band due to claims of animal abuse at the shows. However, as is common with famous groups, the problems swirling around them band seemed to propel record sales and Diary of a Madman went platinum.

On March 19, 1982. Randy was on his way to perform at the Super Bowl with Ozzy and the band. The tour bus stopped over to rest at a private estate in Florida and parked near a house and an aircraft hanger. Andrew Aycock, the band’s bus driver, piloted a plane from the hanger and took band members up for a joy ride. Aycock had a pilot’s license, but it was later discovered that his license had expired. Rhoads, Aycock and Rachel Youngblood were flying in the plane and apparently, Aycock was trying to thrill his passengers by flying low to the ground and buzzing the tour bus. They flew alarmingly close to the bus three times, before the right wing of the plane slammed into the bus on the fourth pass. The plane crashed into the house, burst into flames, and burned the house to the ground. Ozzy Osbourne and other band mates were inside the bus at the time it was hit by the plane, but no one was seriously injured. Aycock, Youngblood and Randy Rhoads were killed in the accident.

Despite his relatively short career, Rhoads is a major influence on neo-classical metal players that emerged in the 1980s. He is cited as an influence by many contemporary guitarists of all styles. He is included in several ‘Greatest Guitarist’ lists.

His career had a huge impact on heavy metal guitar players. Through his devotion to the guitar and his courage to follow his dreams, Randy will be remembered as one of the most influential and talented guitarists of all time.

Yngwie Malmsteen

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Yngwie Malmsteen
Name: Yngwie Malmsteen
DOB: June 30, 1963
From: Stockholm, Sweden
Bands: Steeler, Alcatraz, Solo
Guitars: Fender
Amplifiers: Marshall

Yngwie Malmsteen was largely responsible for the development of the style of guitar playing known as “shredding” that was so popular in the 1980’s. Shred guitar solos are lightning fast riffs that depend more on their speed than their musicality to enhance a song. Guitar enthusiasts have admired and respected the musicians who could produce such breathtaking licks, and Yngwie Malmsteen is always mentioned as one of the best.

In his early years, Malmsteen joined several rock bands around Stockholm. I didn’t take long before he became frustrated with their lack of willingness to take musical risks. Audiences that seemed to prefer lightweight pop sounds to the hard rock songs filled with instrumental solos that he enjoyed also disillusioned him. He made a demo tape which he distributed to as many record companies outside of his home country as he could find. Finally, the founder of California-based Shrapnel Music, Mike Varney, heard his efforts. Yngwie was invited to record with a new band in the US called Steeler, and he was on the road to fame as a guitar shredder.

Steeler released a self-titled album in 1983, which grabbed some attention because of Malmsteen’s frenetic guitar solos. He was not happy with the quality of the other musicians in the group, however, and soon joined a band called Alcatrazz. The new group released an album (No Parole for Rock and Roll) and played a concert tour. Still dissatisfied, Yngwie decided that he would have more artistic license if he became the leader of his own band. In 1984 he gathered some musicians to form the group Rising Force, which included his friend from Sweden, Jens Johansson on keyboards.

The album Rising Force was first released in Japan and created such a buzz that it was soon distributed around the globe. It was nominated for a Grammy and hit the Billboard Top 60. More importantly, it set the standard for an instrumental guitar album and single-handedly originated the “Neo Classical Metal” genre of music. It remains one of the best selling instrumental albums ever produced.

The group released Marching Out and Trilogy in rapid succession and both were well received. The two albums were not only demonstrations of Malmsteen’s skill as a guitarist, but established his reputation as a composer, as well. In 1987, however, he nearly lost his life when he crashed his fast moving Jaguar into a tree. He developed a blood clot in his brain, which could have been fatal, and he was in a coma for seven days. He also sustained significant nerve damage in his right hand that left it virtually paralyzed. To add to the trauma, he regained consciousness to discover that his mother had died. He was determined to persevere, however, and worked diligently to recover the use of his hand and regain his health.

With the release of Odyssey in 1988, the music world realized that Malmsteen was truly back at work. It was his most commercially successful album, especially the single “Heaven Tonight.” He took his band on a worldwide tour and the group had the honor of being one of the first groups to play in the former Soviet Union. Late that year Fender released the first Malmsteen signature Stratocaster. During the early 90’s, a string of albums came from Yngwie’s fertile mind and talented fingers including Fire and Ice, Eclipse, and The Seventh Sign.

In 1997 Yngwie proved to the world that he is much more than just a shredder. He wrote and recorded a completely classical work that he considers his masterpiece. With the lofty title Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra in Eb Minor Op. 1, the album pleased critics and serious musicians around the globe. It was recorded with the highly acclaimed orchestra from Prague, the Czech Philharmonic and its famous conductor Yoel Levi. A few years later, Malmsteen was invited to perform the work before a live audience in Tokyo with the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra. The DVD recording of the concert was released in 2002.

The next year, many guitar fans rushed to attend the concerts in the famous G3 series which featured the three men most aficionados considered to be the Dream Team of guitarists: Malmsteen, Steve Vai, and Joe Satriani. The audio CD’s and DVD releases of the live concerts were instant best sellers in 2003.

Yngwie has continued to tour and record music throughout the decade of the ‘00’s. In ’07 he was featured on the popular video game “Guitar Hero II” (X-box Version). Players of the game can achieve the “Yngwie Malmsteen Award” as a bonus if they can accurately hit at least 1000 notes in a row.

With all his flamboyant showmanship and incredible skill on the guitar, Yngwie continues to impress audiences in the US, Europe and Asia. He is a truly creative musician who has managed to successfully combine two very different forms of music into one completely original style. The world will probably not see another guitarist like Yngwie, but he has made, and will continue to make his mark on the modern music scene.

Check out the Total Guitar lesson “Play Like Yngwie”

Eddie Van Halen

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Eddie Van Halen
Name: Eddie Van Halen
DOB: January 26, 1955
From: Pasadena, California
Bands: Mammoth, Van Halen
Guitars: EVH
Amplifiers: EVH

Eddie Van Halen is one of the most technically flawless guitarists to ever handle a pick. His band had a large impact on the world of rock music but arguably the biggest impact Eddie made was on future guitarists who would imitate his innovative style. To many people Eddie Van Halen is the face of 80s rock. He forever changed the way electric guitarists will play their instruments and is now recognized as living, breathing rock royalty.

In 1977 Van Halen got their big break when Gene Simmons of KISS saw a show at a club in Hollywood. He financed the creation of their first demo tape. Shortly after, Warner Bros. signed the band to a record deal. By 1978 they released their first self-titled debut album which met with immediate success, soaring as high as #19 on Billboard’s chart of pop albums in 1978. The first single released by the band, a cover of the Kinks “You Really Got Me”, reached the top 40 on Billboard’s chart.

The band released four more albums in the four years that followed: Van Halen 2 (1979), Woman and Children First (1980), Fair Warning (1981), and Diver Down (1982). While these albums were successful by the standards of most bands they failed to match their original album in both sales and impact. Then in 1984 the band released the album MCMLXXXIV, usually shorthanded as 1984, which proved to be arguably one of the greatest rock albums ever recorded.

Eddie’s approach to the guitar involves several distinctive components. His innovative use of two-hand tapping (in “Eruption”), natural and artificial harmonics, and tremolo picking combining with his rhythmic sensibility and melodic approach is what makes him a guitar legend. Eddie’s tapping technique, in which he uses both hands on the guitar neck, is his most well known attribute as a guitarist.

A crucial part of Van Halen’s sound is his use of the Floyd Rose fulcrum vibrato for electric guitars. Developed in the mid-20th century, early versions of this device allowed the guitarist to impart a vibrato to a chord or single string via movement of the bar with the picking hand.

Another unique aspect of Eddie’s playing is the tone his licks generate. Van Halen’s unique sound is generated by using a stock 100-watt Marshall amp, a Variac, and a “Frankenstrat” guitar. The “Frankenstrat” is Eddie’s name for the guitar that he constructed from a Charvel factory body and neck, a vintage Gibson P.A.F. humbucker pickup sealed in surfboard wax (to reduce microphone feedback), a pre-CBS Fender tremolo bridge, and a single volume control. The “Frankenstrat” has become one of the most famous guitars in rock history.

Learn to shred like Eddie Van Halen.

Steve Vai

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Steve Vai
Name: Steve Vai
DOB: June 6, 1960
From: Carle Place, New York
Bands: David Lee Roth, Zappa, Solo
Guitars: Ibanez
Amplifiers: Carvin

Steve Vai is a rock guitarist, songwriter, vocalist and producer. Steve Vai is known as one of the world’s greatest guitar virtuosos.

Vai started his professional career with Frank Zappa. He recorded and toured in Zappa’s band from 1980 to 1982. He then began a solo career in 1983 and has released 13 solo albums as of 2008. Apart from his work with Frank Zappa, Vai has also recorded and toured with Public Image Ltd., Alcatrazz, David Lee Roth, and Whitesnake. He has composed music for movie soundtracks and in 1999 Vai started his own record label, Favored Nations.

Vai continues to tour regularly, with his own group and fellow guitar instrumentalist friend Joe Satriani on the G3 series of tours. Billy Sheehan, former David Lee Roth and Mr. Big bassist also joined him for a world tour.

In 1990, Vai released his critically acclaimed solo album Passion and Warfare. The song “For the Love of God” was voted #29 in a readers’ poll of the 100 greatest guitar solos of all time in Guitar World Magazine.

Steve Vai has been acclaimed as one of the most accomplished guitarists of all time. He is famous for his technical mastery of the guitar as well as stylish performance techniques that set him apart from the rest of the pack of aspiring guitar greats. Through his music and success, Vai remains true to his roots and strives to contribute to the world with his music. He founded the Make A Noise Foundation in 1986 to help provide young, talented musicians with instruments and options for developing their talents. By staying true to his own style and beliefs, working to better the world through his music, and putting in the time and effort to become a technical master.

Learn to shred like Steve Vai.

Paul Gilbert

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Paul Gilbert
Name: Paul Gilbert
DOB: November 6, 1966
From: Carbondale, Illinois
Bands: Racer X, Mr. Big, Solo
Guitars: Ibanez
Amplifiers: Laney

Paul Gilbert is well known for his work with Racer X and Mr. Big, as well as many solo albums. He also joined Joe Satriani and John Petrucci on the 2007 G3 tour.

He was been voted number 4 on GuitarOne magazine’s list of the “Top 10 Greatest Guitar Shredders of All Time”, as well as a place in Guitar World’s 50 Fastest Guitarists of All Time list. Gilbert is known for his speedy style, alternative picking method and unique string skipping technique.

One of the keys to success is to emulate someone who has gone before you and learn from their style, techniques, attitudes, and behaviors. For those who aspire to be hard rock virtuosos, check out Paul Gilbert’s guitar dvd lessons.

Learn to play with intensity, speed and finesse with Paul Gilbert of Racer X and Mr. Big! 

Paul Gilbert Terrifying Guitar Trip takes you from the studio to the stage, with lots of thoroughly explained music and instruction in between. Paul gives advice for beginners as well as plenty of challenging licks for intermediate and advanced players.

In Intense Rock Complete, Gilbert combines Intense Rock Volumes 1 and 2. These dvd guitar lessons take you step by step through the techniques that will enable you to play terrifying licks. In this exciting presentation, Paul Gilbert teaches you his personal exercises and sequences for incredibly fast and clean alternate picking, 3-note-per-string scales, sweep picking and string skipping.

Special features include a bonus performance by Yngwie Malmsteen and bonus lessons from Steve Morse and John Petrucci.

Silence Followed by a Deafening Roar goes behind the scenes with shred pioneer Paul Gilbert. Enter Paul’s world of intense guitar techniques and creative music as he explains the details of the Silence Followed by a Deafening Roar album.

Includes special sections on arpeggios, picking, phrasing, and legato techniques as well as a special shred annex of Paul’s favorite and fastest new licks, rare concert footage, and backing tracks. Also features downloadable tab!