Guitarist Vito Bratta (former White Lion) told Guitar World that late guitarist Randy Rhoads was planning to leave Ozzy Osbourne’s band because he wanted to study classical guitar.
Here’s what Bratta said about this:
“I identified with Randy was because he once said in an interview that he wanted to quit playing with Ozzy (Osbourne) and go study classical guitar. And if I’m being honest, that was me in a nutshell. Rock is my base; it all begins there for me, and I venture off when I feel like it.
”But I’m basically a classical guitar nerd who played in a rock band. So, when I heard what Randy said, I was like, ‘Yup. I could definitely go for that,’ and I eventually did.
”Let me put it this way, if I were friends with Randy back then, I’d have said, ‘Ok, I’ll do it with you. Let’s go. I’m up for getting a degree in classical guitar.’ And I was all about classical guitar until recently.
”But I’ve since returned to playing rock music, because I’m now able to again without the levels of pain I used to have. But that’s another story. So, I identified with Randy from a mental standpoint, and it did go on to affect me in that way down the road.”