“He never said anything mean about Randy… Ed didn’t really care”: Ex-W.A.S.P. guitarist says the rivalry between Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads was overplayed by fans
Former W.A.S.P guitarist Chris Holmes has shed some light on the rumoured rivalry that allegedly existed between Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads.
Both Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads began building their music careers within Van Halen and Quiet Riot respectively around the same period, with both playing across California in the late 1970s into the 1980s. But the pair rarely crossed paths, and according to Holmes (a good friend of Eddie’s), the speculated rivalry between the two was actually rather between fans.
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“He never said anything mean about Randy,” says Holmes, speaking to Rock Interview Series [via Ultimate Guitar]. “Ed never did it all. Ed didn’t really care. Ed knew how he played, but he didn’t really care.”
He later adds, “The rivalry was between the fans, more. The fans of Quiet Riot versus Van Halen fans. That was where the rivalry really was. But between the bands…it wasn’t between Ed and Randy. Ed would never say he hated the guy or disliked him.”
Holmes isn’t the only musician part of the inner circles of Van Halen and Quiet Riot who has dispelled such rumours. Earlier this year, Quiet Riot’s original bassist Kelly Garni told the Booked On Rock Podcast that “there was no competition,” between the two.
Garni explained, “Most certainly, there was no competition in Randy’s world. Because Randy didn’t compete. 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!’”
Garni rather recalled a fascination on Rhoads’ part, and says he even went to watch a Van Halen gig and tried to go backstage to meet his supposed “rival”: “Randy was trying to get backstage to meet him, and he did get back there…” he said. “Eddie was acting kind of crazy and bouncing off of walls in his underwear. And Randy was like, ‘Oh okay… not the best time to meet this guy.’”
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
