Classically-trained heavy metal guitarist Randall “Randy” Rhoads is best remembered for his work with Ozzy Osbourne in the early 1980s. (You can hear him playing on “Crazy Train.”) Though he didn’t live long — he died in 1982, while on tour — his small but impressive body of work influenced a number of future rock guitarists.
One of those guitarists was Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine. Here’s what Morello told Rolling Stone a few years ago:
Randy Rhoads is my favorite guitar player of all time. It was his poster on my wall when I was practicing eight hours a day, and I named my firstborn son, Rhoads, after him.
Baby Rhoads was born in 2007.
Morello and his wife Denise welcomed their second son in 2011. This time they went for a sports name, choosing Roman in honor of 1960’s Los Angeles Rams quarterback Roman Gabriel. Again, Morello explained the decision in terms of posters:
That was the poster on my wall. Before I had rock and roll posters on my wall I had Roman Gabriel on my wall.
Which name do you like more, Rhoads or Roman?
Sources:
- Randy Rhoads – Wikipedia
- Tom Morello – Wikipedia
- Grow, Kory. “Hear Tom Morello and Serj Tankian’s Dizzying ‘Crazy Train’ Cover.” Rolling Stone 21 Jan. 2015.
- Baltin, Steve. “Sunday Conversation: Tom Morello, YG, Perry Farrell, Kaskade And More on The Special Bond Between Athletes And Musicians.” Forbes.com 13 Feb. 2022.
Image: Screenshot of a performance with Ozzy Osbourne [vid]
I don’t particularly like Roman, and Rhoads is not for me. But I love Gabriel. He should have gone with Gabriel. I am just glad he didn’t choose Randy. Someone in a name group on Reddit mentioned that Aussies think it’s hilarious that North Americans can be named Randy. I guess that suggestive adjective is much more common in Australia than it is here. The only time I really remember it being prevalent was during some long-ago royal scandal (that seems positively innocent compared to what he’s been clocked for lately) that caused 1980s National Enquirer headlines to call Prince Andrew “Randy Andy.”