In the late 1970s and early ’80s, Randy Rhoads and Eddie Van Halen were routinely cast as rivals. Both were young, technically dazzling and widely viewed as the most important guitarists of their generation, fueling a narrative that divided fans and gave the guitar press an irresistible storyline.
The media’s role in amplifying such rivalries was nothing new — as seen in the much-publicized tensions between Metallica and Megadeth. But according to original Quiet Riot bass guitarist Kelly Garni, the supposed animosity between Rhoads and Van Halen bore little resemblance to reality.
When Van Halen exploded onto the Los Angeles club scene, his revolutionary technique — immortalized in “Eruption” — quickly made him a local phenomenon. At the time, Rhoads was still performing with Quiet Riot. Later, after joining Ozzy Osbourne and helping launch the singer’s solo career, the perceived rivalry intensified in the public imagination.
But Garni says Rhoads himself had no interest in competing.
Speaking on the Booked On Rock podcast (via Ultimate Guitar), Garni recalled how Quiet Riot became aware of Van Halen’s growing reputation while playing the same Hollywood circuit.
“We became well aware of Van Halen,” he said. “When we’d play the Starwood, we knew they were playing down the street at Gazzarri’s. But there was no competition.
“It just wasn’t in Randy to try to compete. He couldn’t. The way his brain was wired, he could not form a thought like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna be better than that guy.’”
Still, the buzz surrounding Van Halen eventually sparked Rhoads’ curiosity. According to Garni, he went to see the guitarist perform and came away impressed, if understated in his assessment.
“Randy said, ‘I’ll go see what the deal is,’” Garni recalled. “He saw him play and said, ‘Yeah, okay, the guy’s good.’”
Rhoads did make it backstage, but the timing wasn’t ideal.
“Eddie was acting kind of crazy and bouncing off the walls in his underwear,” Garni said. “And Randy was like, ‘Oh, okay … not the best time to meet this guy.’”
The two guitarists shared a bill only once, at Glendale Community College on April 23, 1977. Whether they ever properly connected remains unclear, but the mythology surrounding their supposed rivalry only grew in the years that followed.
Van Halen would later claim that “everything he did, he learned from me,” while Osbourne said in 2022 that his late guitarist “didn’t have a nice thing to say about Eddie.”
Yet decades later, Osbourne appeared to signal reconciliation of sorts. During his 2024 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he invited Wolfgang Van Halen — Eddie’s son — to perform “Crazy Train.”
Even so, Van Halen’s legacy remained entwined with rivalry. Guitar virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen, who rose to prominence after Rhoads’ death in 1982, has claimed that Van Halen avoided sharing bills with him to sidestep direct comparisons.
True or not, Garni’s recollections suggest that at least from Rhoads’ perspective, one of rock’s most famous guitar rivalries may have existed more in headlines than in reality.
