Fact #41990
When:
Short story:
Randy Rhoads, best-known as guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne's Blizzard of Ozz, dies in a plane crash near Orlando, Florida, USA.Full article:
Marylee Morrison (local resident) : I was going for a nice peaceful ride on my horse and kept hearing this plane. It was flying so low that when it passed over me, I could see the interior of it.
Ozzy Osbourne : I was sleeping on the bus. Don Airey saw it. At first I thought the bus driver had fallen asleep at the wheel, crashed into a truck and run off the road. The plane ripped the bus into a million pieces. All we've got are fragments. ... It was no prank. It was an accident and that's it. For God's sake, if I ever hear anybody say it was one of my practical jokes that went wrong, I'll strangle the bastard. It was an accident, a horrible accident.
Ozzy Osbourne : (statement to police) : At approximately 9:00 a.m. on Friday, March 19, 1982, I was awoken from my sleep by a loud explosion. I immediately thought that we'd hit a vehicle on the road. I got out of the bed, screaming to my fiancée, Sharon, ‘Get off the bus.’ Meanwhile, she was screaming to everyone else to get off the bus. After getting out of the bus, I saw that a plane had crashed. I didn't know who was on the plane at the time. When we realized that our people were on the plane, I found it very difficult to get assistance from anyone to help. In fact, it took almost a half-hour before anyone arrived. One small fire engine arrived, which appeared to squirt three gallons of water over the inferno. We asked for further assistance, such as telephones, and didn't receive any further help. In the end, we finally found a telephone and Sharon phoned her father.
Sharon Osbourne (statement to police) : I went to bed around 11:30 p.m. the night of the 18th. The next thing I knew, I woke with a huge bang and the bus was rocking. My bed was at the back of the bus. I ran to the front of the bus to look out of the windows, I had no idea where I was or what had happened. There was glass everywhere in the bus; everything was upside down. The bus driver’s ex-wife said: ‘Don't look, don't come out.’ I left the bus and saw flames coming from a house, and a big hole in our bus. I ran screaming trying to find out what had happened, but no one would say. Then I found out. I asked for a phone. I was told by a man, who I did not know, that there was no phone and to keep my mouth shut and I did not see anything. I told him to go to hell and then I found a phone. I did not see the crash. All I saw was fire.
Sharon Osbourne (manager, Ozzy Osbourne) : There's so much about the crash that is misunderstood, that needs clearing up.
This is what really happened: the guys were going to Florida, we were doing an outdoor festival with Foreigner. We were broke, and they were offering great money, so it was like, 'Why not?'
It was an overnight drive to Florida, and the bus we were using actually came from there. We had to go past the driver's home - he lived on this compound where the buses were kept, and he needed a couple of spare parts.
We pulled in to this area and there was this small landing strip with these small aircraft. So it was a big green field, three houses and a landing strip. Ozzy and I were asleep in the bus. There was also [bassist] Rudy Sarzo, [drummer] Tommy Aldridge, Randy, Ozzy, a tour manager, a keyboard player named Don Airey, myself and Rachel, who was a 56-year-old lady, who took care of all the band's clothes and cooked for them. She died on the plane also.
Now, on this particular haul, the bus driver picked up his ex-wife at a gig. He actually had the nerve to ask me to drop her off in Florida. Usually, I wouldn't permit this, but he put me in an embarrassing situation, so I had to allow it. We stopped at the driver's place.
It's seven in the morning, and Don Airey and the bus driver are awake, and they see the planes. The bus driver turns out to be a pilot! Don asks the driver to take him up for a ride. So they go up for a while and land. Don then comes back in the bus and wakes everybody else up to go on the plane. Well, nobody else would go except Rachel and Randy. They went up, and they were taking photos of the bus. The bus driver's ex-wife was outside the bus, watching.
And then before you knew it, the plane came down and went right through the bus and into one of the houses. Ozzy and I woke up, the back of the bus crushed down on us, and we had no idea what was happening. There was nothing left - the pilot died, Rachel died, and Randy died. Instantly.
You know, when it happened, there were all these stories about fun and games. It wasn't like that at all, and the whole thing will always be a mystery to us. Randy was afraid of flying! He was terrified of it whenever he had to fly. What would make him go up there? Ozzy and I will wonder about it 'til the day we die. In my opinion, there was more going on. In the autopsy report, they found cocaine in the bus driver's system, a considerable amount, and of course he had been fighting with his ex-wife. I think for that one instant, while flying, he looked down at his ex-wife and said, 'Forget this.' Why Randy and Rachel had to be on that plane though ... it was a horrific day.
Usually, when musicians die, it's the same old story. With Randy, it was different. It wasn't a silly stunt, it was a tragedy.
Ozzy Osbourne : There are so many things about his death that are unfair. I was very angry about it after it happened. For about two years I just had this rage about me. I was mad at anyone and everyone. Randy wasn't a crazy person, he wasn't any of those things - he was just a young musician with this incredible talent. That's what's so unfair. He was just plucked away from all of us before he could realize his full potential.
I look around at what's going on in music now, and there's so much that he'd love - he'd go out of his mind with CDs, you know. He'd probably have a field day with them. The thing about Randy, the bottom line truth of it is that he was my dear, dear friend, and not a day goes by when I don't think about him. He made everything new again, he made things fun again, and I miss him a lot. He gave me so much, he gave everybody so much, and he didn't get a chance to see it all come back to him. He did not reap what he sowed.
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Ozzy Osbourne : I was sleeping on the bus. Don Airey saw it. At first I thought the bus driver had fallen asleep at the wheel, crashed into a truck and run off the road. The plane ripped the bus into a million pieces. All we've got are fragments. ... It was no prank. It was an accident and that's it. For God's sake, if I ever hear anybody say it was one of my practical jokes that went wrong, I'll strangle the bastard. It was an accident, a horrible accident.
Ozzy Osbourne : (statement to police) : At approximately 9:00 a.m. on Friday, March 19, 1982, I was awoken from my sleep by a loud explosion. I immediately thought that we'd hit a vehicle on the road. I got out of the bed, screaming to my fiancée, Sharon, ‘Get off the bus.’ Meanwhile, she was screaming to everyone else to get off the bus. After getting out of the bus, I saw that a plane had crashed. I didn't know who was on the plane at the time. When we realized that our people were on the plane, I found it very difficult to get assistance from anyone to help. In fact, it took almost a half-hour before anyone arrived. One small fire engine arrived, which appeared to squirt three gallons of water over the inferno. We asked for further assistance, such as telephones, and didn't receive any further help. In the end, we finally found a telephone and Sharon phoned her father.
Sharon Osbourne (statement to police) : I went to bed around 11:30 p.m. the night of the 18th. The next thing I knew, I woke with a huge bang and the bus was rocking. My bed was at the back of the bus. I ran to the front of the bus to look out of the windows, I had no idea where I was or what had happened. There was glass everywhere in the bus; everything was upside down. The bus driver’s ex-wife said: ‘Don't look, don't come out.’ I left the bus and saw flames coming from a house, and a big hole in our bus. I ran screaming trying to find out what had happened, but no one would say. Then I found out. I asked for a phone. I was told by a man, who I did not know, that there was no phone and to keep my mouth shut and I did not see anything. I told him to go to hell and then I found a phone. I did not see the crash. All I saw was fire.
Sharon Osbourne (manager, Ozzy Osbourne) : There's so much about the crash that is misunderstood, that needs clearing up.
This is what really happened: the guys were going to Florida, we were doing an outdoor festival with Foreigner. We were broke, and they were offering great money, so it was like, 'Why not?'
It was an overnight drive to Florida, and the bus we were using actually came from there. We had to go past the driver's home - he lived on this compound where the buses were kept, and he needed a couple of spare parts.
We pulled in to this area and there was this small landing strip with these small aircraft. So it was a big green field, three houses and a landing strip. Ozzy and I were asleep in the bus. There was also [bassist] Rudy Sarzo, [drummer] Tommy Aldridge, Randy, Ozzy, a tour manager, a keyboard player named Don Airey, myself and Rachel, who was a 56-year-old lady, who took care of all the band's clothes and cooked for them. She died on the plane also.
Now, on this particular haul, the bus driver picked up his ex-wife at a gig. He actually had the nerve to ask me to drop her off in Florida. Usually, I wouldn't permit this, but he put me in an embarrassing situation, so I had to allow it. We stopped at the driver's place.
It's seven in the morning, and Don Airey and the bus driver are awake, and they see the planes. The bus driver turns out to be a pilot! Don asks the driver to take him up for a ride. So they go up for a while and land. Don then comes back in the bus and wakes everybody else up to go on the plane. Well, nobody else would go except Rachel and Randy. They went up, and they were taking photos of the bus. The bus driver's ex-wife was outside the bus, watching.
And then before you knew it, the plane came down and went right through the bus and into one of the houses. Ozzy and I woke up, the back of the bus crushed down on us, and we had no idea what was happening. There was nothing left - the pilot died, Rachel died, and Randy died. Instantly.
You know, when it happened, there were all these stories about fun and games. It wasn't like that at all, and the whole thing will always be a mystery to us. Randy was afraid of flying! He was terrified of it whenever he had to fly. What would make him go up there? Ozzy and I will wonder about it 'til the day we die. In my opinion, there was more going on. In the autopsy report, they found cocaine in the bus driver's system, a considerable amount, and of course he had been fighting with his ex-wife. I think for that one instant, while flying, he looked down at his ex-wife and said, 'Forget this.' Why Randy and Rachel had to be on that plane though ... it was a horrific day.
Usually, when musicians die, it's the same old story. With Randy, it was different. It wasn't a silly stunt, it was a tragedy.
Ozzy Osbourne : There are so many things about his death that are unfair. I was very angry about it after it happened. For about two years I just had this rage about me. I was mad at anyone and everyone. Randy wasn't a crazy person, he wasn't any of those things - he was just a young musician with this incredible talent. That's what's so unfair. He was just plucked away from all of us before he could realize his full potential.
I look around at what's going on in music now, and there's so much that he'd love - he'd go out of his mind with CDs, you know. He'd probably have a field day with them. The thing about Randy, the bottom line truth of it is that he was my dear, dear friend, and not a day goes by when I don't think about him. He made everything new again, he made things fun again, and I miss him a lot. He gave me so much, he gave everybody so much, and he didn't get a chance to see it all come back to him. He did not reap what he sowed.