Tom Morello has called Randy Rhoads the “greatest hard rock guitar player of all time” on multiple occasions. However, what might not be as widely known is that Morello advocated for Rhoads’ induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – and is one of the few individuals ever to handle one of the most-prized Rhoads guitars.
“His sister, who’s lovely, is very protective of all the stuff,” he tells Classic Rock in a new interview. “It’s sealed away somewhere in a secret vault, and no one knows where it is. I’d asked her if I could see it, and she said: ‘Nobody sees it.’ You gotta respect that.”
The Rage Against the Machine guitarist goes on to reveal that Randy’s sister, Kathy Rhoads D’Argenzio, changed her mind a year after that fateful first ask. The guitar in question turned out to be Rhoads’ personally designed white, asymmetrically V-shaped Jackson Concorde, named after the aircraft he flew home aboard in late 1980.
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“She texts me saying the guitar is at her house that afternoon, on its way back from the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, and now would I like to go see it?” he continues. “His mom didn’t want anyone else to ever play it again, but I got to hold it.”
It was such a special experience that Morello can still recall every little detail. “That was pretty emotional for me. The crazy thing was that the leather guitar strap still smelled of cigarette smoke. He was performing up until the day he died, so that strap had smoke from 1982 left in it.”
Rhoads’ Jackson Concorde was on display at the Rock Hall 2021 Inductee Exhibit, which launched on October 24, 2021, at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland.
The sorely missed Ozzy Osbourne guitarist was posthumously inducted to the RRHOF by Morello and honored with the Musical Excellence Award. This was followed by tributes from the likes of Metallica‘s Kirk Hammett, Osbourne, Steve Vai, and Zakk Wylde.
