Ex-QUIET RIOT Bassist: OZZY And SHARON Didn't Care About RANDY RHOADS' Happiness

April 5, 2004

Bassist Kelly Garni, one of the founding members of QUIET RIOT, has slammed Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne over their treatment of Randy Rhoads prior to the guitar legend's death, alleging that they "didn't care about [Randy's] happiness" and claiming that Ozzy "punched" Randy when Rhoads said he wanted to leave Ozzy's band.

Speaking to The-Fuze.net about his former QUIET RIOT bandmate's final days, Garni said, "Randy wasn’t happy in the end. He wanted out. There’s a lot of friction between me and Ozzy because I speak my mind about that. Him and Sharon paint this lovely picture — 'Randy could have left any time he wanted. Whatever Randy wanted, we wanted. To see him happy — that was the most important thing.' Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit. They wouldn’t let him out of contract. They threatened him... Ozzy punched him when Randy said he wanted to leave. Two weeks before Randy died, Ozzy punched him in the face, over breakfast. They were adamant about not losing him. They didn't care about his happiness. And who would want to let him go? The guy was a great guitar player, a nice kid, very serious…so I can't blame him for that, but the reality of it was when it came time for him to really try to get out of that band they played hardball. It turned into a very unhappy situation. Randy was the kind of guy who didn't like to hurt feelings and didn't like confrontations. I think he just kind of resigned himself to, 'Well, I’m stuck here.' I've read some letters that he wrote, and he actually wrote to [former QUIET RIOT singer] Kevin [Dubrow] about it more than anything. He thought Kevin could advise him a little better. Kevin made me copies of these letters. He was miserable in that band. He didn't even like anybody else in the band. . . [Randy] and [former QUIET RIOT bassist] Rudy never really were all that close. Rudy was at least a little bit of a connection to where Randy came from, and Rudy's a very nice guy, but he's not really… 'Randy people,' I guess is the best way to say it. I don't think Randy felt like he had a good close friend there, or an ally. Rudy has a tendency to mind his own business. So Randy was stuck. It's weird that, to get out of that band, he had to die. You could almost say that was the only way he was ever going to get out of it. They weren't going to let him go."

Read the rest of the interview here.

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