As a writer on the DI’s music beat, I spend a lot of time listening to, reviewing, and writing about music. I am ashamed to admit that in my spare time I have not found much, if any, time to play guitar — one of my loves in life.

I am obsessed with all forms of music, but especially with a select few musicians. One of my biggest music geek obsessions? Deceased Ozzy Osbourne guitar player Randy Rhoads.

From the time I began playing the guitar in middle school, I idolized the way Rhoads played his guitar. Mixing classical elements with ‘80s rock, there was no one quite like him.

The debut album Blizzard of Ozz kicked off with Rhoads sliding up the fretboard on “I Don’t Know,” proving his proficiency by the end of the track. “Crazy Train” will always go down as one of the most memorable guitar licks of all time, even if it’s overplayed. “Revelation (Mother Earth)” contains some of Ozzy’s most haunting lyrics and one of the greatest solos of all time.

In 1981, Rhoads did the impossible and wrote and even better album with Ozzy called Diary of a Madman. In my teen years I would put that album in a CD player, grab my Jackson Rhoads flying V guitar, and rock out to “Over the Mountain” or “Believer.” “Diary of a Madman” has to be one of the best songs ever recorded — and I will fight with anyone who says otherwise.

On March 19, 1982, Rhoads died at the age of 25 in a tragic plane accident, after the left wing of the ’55 Beechcraft Bonanza F-35 clipped the side of the band’s tour bus, sending the plane spiraling out of control. The guitarist left the world having created two of the greatest rock albums of all time.

Today, I keep my Rhoads guitar tucked safely under my bed — more often than it should be. Maybe listening to the legendary guitar player will inspire me to break out the guitar again. I’ve got lots of catching up to do.

— by Eric Andersen