[Interview] Tacii Guns and Director Andre Relis Talk Randy Rhoads ‘Guitar Icon’ Documentary
Director Andre Relis and guitarist Tracii Guns (L.A. Guns, Guns ‘n Roses) recently joined HDN to discuss their new documentary Randy Rhoads: Reflections of a Guitar Icon about the legendary guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and Quiet Riot, and why now is the time to shine a light on this massively talented musician who tragically died at age 25 in a plane crash 40 years ago this year.
Guns, a founding member of both L.A. Guns and what would become Guns ‘n Roses, narrates the documentary, which also features tons of archival footage from Rhoads’ early years as a founding member of Quiet Riot thanks to band photographer and videographer Ron Sobol.
It also features touching interviews with Randy’s mother Delores, his longtime girlfriend Jodi Vigier, and many of his contemporaries, including Rudy Sarzo (who played with Randy in both Quiet Riot and Ozzy’s band) and guitarist Dana Strum, who fatefully introduced Rhoads to Osbourne when Ozzy was forming his first solo band after being fired from Black Sabbath, among many others.
The doc also touches on Rhoads’ feud with another up and coming guitarist of the time named Eddie Van Halen, and follows Randy’s difficult decision to quit the band he started and had been with for a decade so he could be Ozzy’s new guitar player. Since Rhoads’ untimely death in an accidental plane crash while on tour with Ozzy on March 19, 1982, Osbourne has said many times that Randy was his musical soulmate.
In our conversation, we discussed the huge influence that Rhoads’ innovative guitar playing has had on virtually everyone who has played the instrument since, and of course we talked a bit about Halloween itself, as Relis reveals his unique personal memories of celebrating the holiday as a kid while he was being raised in a cult in California.
You can watch our full exclusive interview with Tracii Guns and filmmaker Andre Relis on Randy Rhoads: Reflections of a Guitar Icon below.
The documentary will be released on VOD on May 6.
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