“VAN HALEN didn’t wear a little bow tie and polka dots. QUIET RIOT did. I didn’t like that.“
— Chris Holmes / former W.A.S.P. guitarist

THE METAL VOICE — In a new interview with Canada’s The Metal Voice the guest was none other than classic era W.A.S.P. guitarist Chris Holmes.

Holmes talks about the rivalry between the late guitar legends Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads.

Holmes was close in age to both Van Halen and Rhoads and talks about coming up in the Southern California music scene with the pair.

The following is part of what Holmes told The Metal Voice (as transcribed by Blabbermouth): “I grew up right next to Pasadena and La Cañada [Flintridge in California]. That’s on one side, but Glendale’s on the other side, and that’s where QUIET RIOT comes from.

“There’s a lot of people [who] say that I hate Randy Rhoads. No, I don’t hate the guy. I like the guy, actually,” Holmes clarified. “I think he is a good guitar player. I’ve read on the Internet, a lot of people say I hate him. I don’t hate him. Okay?! He comes from my era, from my age of playing guitar and stuff. I’ve never said I hate the guy. I grew up with VAN HALEN, so I look at him, who’s better? To me, [Eddie] Van Halen smokes him. So if I go with the VAN HALEN side of [things]. VAN HALEN didn’t wear a little bow tie and polka dots. QUIET RIOT did. I didn’t like that. I’d rather go to a VAN HALEN party, drink Schlitz malt liquor and get your teeth knocked out in the mud than go to a QUIET RIOT party and smoke Sherman cigarettes and drink Perrier. That ain’t my bag. So it’s different sides of [things]. But anyway, yeah, I don’t hate Randy Rhoads. He’s played some good stuff. It’s sad that he died.”

Holmes previously touched upon the Van Halen/Rhoads rivalry in a 2000 interview with The Inside. He stated at the time: “Well, every band had their rivals and back [in the 1970s]. QUIET RIOT was VAN HALEN‘s. They were about the same age. The San Fernando people were QUIET RIOT fans and San Gabriel people were VAN HALEN fans. I just never liked QUIET RIOT. I used to make fun of them because they wore polka dots and bow ties, and VAN HALEN was like a drunk party band all the time. I didn’t like Randy Rhoads either. I don’t want to say anything bad about the guy, but there’s always rivals.”

Holmes, 67, was born in 1958, while Rhoads was born in 1956 and Van Halen in 1955.

Eddie Van Halen had a huge career impacting guitar playing, and rock music in general for more than 40 years before dying in October of 2020 at the age of 65.

Randy Rhoads also made a huge impact on guitarists, and was instrumental in helping Ozzy Osbourne launch his solo career but sadly was killed in a plane crash in March of 1982 at age 25.

Stay tuned to Metal Sludge for more Breaking News, Updates and Features along with both new interviews and Classic 20 Questions.