Ozzy Osbourne recently joined an elite cast of musicians — including Eric Clapton, John Lennon and Jimmy Page — who have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame multiple times.
His induction ceremony was the kind of glamorous and gothic affair one would expect, but among the frivolities was a groundbreaking moment when Wolfgang Van Halen stepped up to play the role of Randy Rhoads on "Crazy Train."
When Rhoads shot onto the national scene in the early 1980s as Ozzy’s guitar star, rock fans keenly debated whether Randy or Eddie Van Halen was the better guitarist. Both players helped fan the flames. For Randy's part, he's known to have said only one positive thing about his shredding adversary.
With Wolfgang performing Rhoads' licks on "Crazy Train," the part rivalry was extinguished once and for all.
As Wolfgang explained, the gig was simply too good to turn down.
“I got the request from Ozzy, so you don’t say no,” he tells the Talking Rock with Meltdown podcast. “You’re like, ‘I’ll do what I can, sir.’ We had two rehearsals in Los Angeles before we came out and then a rehearsal the day before in Cleveland, so it was nice. The band got to gel, so it wasn’t just thrown together.”
The group included Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, Metallica bass player Robert Trujillo, and Tool singer James Maynard Keneean. Zakk Wylde also performed later that night.
Wolfgang says producer Andrew Watt, who helmed Ozzy’s last two records — Ordinary Man and Patient No.9 — was the brains behind the operation.
“He was kind of the one setting everything up,” Wolfgang said. “It was a crazy supergroup of people, I felt so out of place. It was nice to have Zakk there so I could be like, ‘Hey, am I doing this right?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, you’re doing fine.’
“I was certainly incredibly nervous, but everybody made it really easy, and it was really comfortable,” he adds. “And it was really cool to be able to hang out with Maynard. I’ve been a huge Tool fan my whole life, and he’s one of my favorite singers. I kind of had to put away the fan shirt and just kind of be like, ‘Yes sir, hey, how’s it going?’”
Though Wolfgang is — understandably — trying to forge a career away from his father’s shadow, he has spoken about the key lesson his dad taught him about soloing. He believes it’s an aspect of Eddie’s playing that too many players look past.
Meanwhile, former Van Halen Michael Anthony has said it's up to Wolfgang if anything happens to the vast archive of demos that Van Halen created during their time together.
And in related news, MXR has opened up Rhoads’ iconic “chip pan” pedalboard for the creation of the MXR Randy Rhoads Distortion+ pedal, and luthier Jim DeCola recently explained how he modded Randy Rhoads’ polka-dot V backstage just minutes before he played the guitar.
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