Thursday, November 12, 2015

Delores Rhoads, Mother of Randy Rhoads Dead


Delores "Dee" Rhoads, mother of guitar legend Randy Rhoads (of Ozzy Osbourne and Quiet Riot) has unfortunately passed away. Unfortunately neither her age nor the cause of death was given.

The news came from Rhoads's former band mate Rudy Sarzo via Facebook, saying:

“The world today has lost one of the most gracious and sweetest ladies I’m blessed to have known, Delores Rhoads. Please keep her and the Rhoads family in your prayers.”
Delores ran a music school in Hollywood, CA called Musonia School of Music after having graduated with a BA in music in 1949. There she taught Randy everything he knew about guitar and music theory.
On her son, Delores once said:
“Randy grew up musically in my school,” she once said. “I am sure he was influenced by this in many ways. He started when he was so young, he was somewhere between six-and-a-half and seven when he started lessons. In those days, way back then, we started them with the folk guitar where they learned the chords and a few pop songs.
To play in my little group that I had even way back then he had to read [music notation], because he couldn’t play in the group unless he read. And then I worked with him when he was very young. I gave him some piano lessons, so he had to learn to read. I always make my students count very accurately and read properly and do everything the right way, so he had some help in that.”
Kind of sad to see such a legend pass away. However, she really did leave her mark on the world of music, even if it was indirectly. From what I understand she was a very kind woman with an extreme passion for music. Below you can hear the 50 second classical guitar piece Randy wrote and recorded for her called Dee that was on Ozzy Osbourne's debut solo album The Blizzard of Ozz.

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