Legendary musician Randy Rhoads would have been 55 today (Dec. 6) had a tragic airplane accident not taken his life in March of 1982.
The former Quiet Riot and Ozzy Osbourne guitarist helped create the template of metal soloing that people would follow for years to come.
Rolling Stone even recently named the classically-influenced Rhoads the 36th greatest guitarist of all time (a list compiled with input from music experts and other influential guitarists).
“I practiced eight hours a day because of him,” Tom Morello has said of Rhoads, according to Rolling Stone.
When Rhoads joined Ozzy in 1979, the duo put out several seminal metal records, including Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman.
In the video below, Osbourne listens to a lost Rhoads solo 30 years after it was made: