Guitar legend Randy Rhoads died 44 years ago on this day. The acclaimed guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne died on March 19, 1982, in a plane crash in Leesburg, Florida, while on tour to support Osbourne’s Diary of a Madman album. Rhoads, who was known for his powerful guitar solos on songs such as “Crazy Train” and “Mr. Crowley,” was just 25 years old at the time of his death.
At the time,The New York Times reported that Rhoads, pilot Andrew Aycock, 36, and makeup artist Rachel Youngblood, 58, were killed after the small plane they were joyriding in struck a van and clipped a house. Other members of Osbourne’s entourage witnessed the crash and its fiery aftermath.
In the documentary Into the Void: Life, Death & Heavy Metal, Osbourne bandmate Tommy Aldridge recalled that the band’s manager, Sharon Osbourne, became “unglued” when she found out that Rhoads had died. “She just went off on our tour manager, screaming, ‘How could you let that baby get on that plane?!’” he recalled.
Decades after the crash, Ozzy Osbourne told British GQ that tragedy often replayed in his mind and that it felt like “a bad f—ing horror movie.” “The house was on fire. The bus had been hit by the plane. There was glass and gasoline everywhere. The f—ing house was engulfed,” he said in 2020. “And [Rhoads] was such a nice guy. A very gentle man… but so powerful with his instrument.”
Ozzy Osbourne appeared in a TV interview days later
One week after the plane crash, Osbourne shocked fans when he kept a previously scheduled appearance on The Late Show With David Letterman.
After joking with Osbourne about his bat-biting history, Letterman acknowledged that the singer had recently suffered a major loss.
“Last week I lost two of the greatest people in my life,” Osbourne said. “But it ain’t gonna stop me because I’m for rock and roll. And rock and roll is for the people, and I love the people, and that’s what I’m about.”
Osbourne, who died in July 2025 at age 76, often credited Rhoads for helping him forge his successful solo career after leaving the British heavy metal band Black Sabbath.
“He’s probably the truest musician I’ve ever played with,” Osbourne said in a 2021 interview with Rolling Stone. “The way he died was a terrible thing. I owe my career to him. … I knew him for a very short amount of time. But what he gave me in that short amount of time was immeasurable in f—ing greatness.”
On March 18, 2026, the official Ozzy Osbourne Instagram account shared a classic photo from Rhoads’ final performance. In the photo, Osbourne held the guitar virtuoso up in his arms as he played for the crowd for what would be the last time. “March 18, 1982, Randy’s final show, Knoxville, Tennessee,” the caption read.
This story was originally published by Parade on Mar 19, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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