Welcome to my Music Diary – today for the 19th March!
On the 19th March 1982, guitarist and former Quiet Riot member Randy Rhoads died. The musician was killed in a plane crash.
Randy played that time in Ozzy Osbourne’s band and the whole entourage was touring through the USA. On the way to the next show in Orlando (Florida), they stopped on a property where on an airstrip some small helicopters and planes were parked. Andrew Aycock, the bus driver, took a test flight with keyboarder Don Airey and tour manager Jake Duncan. After a safe landing, Andrew took another flight – this time with guitarist Randy Rhoads and makeup artist Rachel Youngblood. During that flight the tragic happened: The plane buzzed over the tourbus, where Ozzy and the other band members were sleeping. After a second close pass the third didn’t succeed and one of the wings clipped the bus, broke and the plane was out of control and crashed into a near garage and bursted into flames. All three people were killed instantly and the bodies were burned beyond recognition. Randy Rhoads died at the age of only 26 years.