Quiet Riot co-founder Kelly Garni says: “I was going to kill Kevin DuBrow” but denies he tried to kill Randy Rhoads
The Metal Voice — Former Quiet Riot bassist and co-founder Kelly Garni recently spoke about his book Angles with Dirty Faces, which talks how Randy and Garni disliked Black Sabbath in the early days, Garni conflicts with Kevin Dubrow, Randy Rhoads letters, poor management in Quiet Riot, re-releasing Quiet Riot 1 and 2 and the gun shooting incident with Randy Rhoads that led to Garni being fired from Quiet Riot.
Here are a few smipets below from The Metal Voice interview.
When asked about why he did not get along with Kevin Dubrow
“I never really got along with Kevin Dubrow from the very beginning because I didn’t like him. Kevin was not a nice person. He was obnoxious and he hated me. Kevin loved and adored Randy and he wanted to be really close to Randy and I was like no that is not happening that’s my best friend. If you asked anybody in the music business back then what was Kevin like, they would say he was a prick and that’s even after he is dead. Kevin doesn’t even get any respect after he died. Kevin was a dick, he was a prick and asshole and he certainly made his own bed in that regards. Later on in the ending of my book I talked about how I learned a different side of Kevin and how I became extremely good friends with him and close enough with him, that if I had a brother this is the guy outside of Randy and Kelle Rhoads.”
When asked about the gun shooting incident with Randy Rhoads
“The only thing out there that I would debunk or argue with is people say I tried to kill Randy Rhoads with a gun. People call me out on that one all the time and I almost got into a fist fight with Ozzy about it. Nothing could be further from the truth. First of all when it comes to Randy everyone thinks he was so angelic, well we used to go out and shoot guns all the time. One time the S.W.A.T. team was called at my house because we were firing guns off in my backyard.”
“What happened was I had robbed a bar the night before and stolen all their liquor and I was very drunk that’s why Randy was at my house because we were drinking and we were drinking for about 6 hours straight. Randy and I had an argument over whether was should kick out Kevin Dubrow from Quiet Riot. People say that during that fight I tried to shoot Randy Rhoads and that is not true. I fired a bullet through the ceiling. (in the book Garni claims 10 feet above Randy’s head 8 feet in front of him). The bullet went no where near Randy Rhoads and in no way would I ever try to kill my best friend. And yes a pretty good fist fight happened a rather violent one. Randy left my house bleeding pretty badly and so did I. But that is what friends and brothers do is they roll around the ground, beat each other up and that’s all it was. People have made a big deal about a fight between two best friends who are brothers and have construed it in a completely negative manner then it actually was. In no way did I try to kill Randy Rhoads, in no way. Because of this fight I was thrown out of Quiet Riot, I was kicked out of Quiet Riot because of this. I have no problems saying that. Once I started to pull a gun out the management said he is out of control which I agree to that decision that they made and have no issues with. I deserved to get fired from Quiet Riot, totally deserved it. But I will say Randy called me up after I got out of jail from the incident the next day and he was laughing cause I got thrown in jail. How I got thrown in jail was, I got in my car and I was very angry and I knew that Kevin was down at the Record Plant recording vocals for Quiet Riot 2. Like I said the fight was over kicking Kevin out of the band and we got into a mix about it, the gun was fired and we got into a fist fight, I probably got into a dozen fist fights with Randy over the years. That’s how brothers are you fight, you cry, you say you are sorry and then you do it again. I pulled out a gun to make my point, to make a big loud noise which was sort of my way of saying everyone just shut up.”
“So after Randy left my house with the aid of a friend who was sitting right there who will back up everything I am saying Kim McNair a good friend of Randy’s and mine. I was very drunk and after Randy left I said I am going to fix this deal and I am going to blow Kevin’s ass away. I got in my car and I tried to drive clear over to Holly wood which was 25-30 miles away and I was going to kill Kevin, that was my big drunken plan and as soon as I got in my car and started driving I realized I couldn’t drive. I didn’t have the ability and I was like well there goes that plan, well I’m going to have to go home. So in order to park in front of my house I had to go around the block and I had to go into a major intersection and when I made that turn, I blew the turn and there was a cop car and they pulled me over in front of my house. I had the gun in the shoulder holster and they had me get out of the car . Next thing I know I was on the ground and then I woke up in jail with my face covered in blood. I was charged with DUI and felony possession for a concealed weapon. I know what I did, I owned up to it I am not going to lie about it and I’m not going to try and sugar coat it, there is no way to sugar coat it . I fucked up.”
Listen below or read the full interview at The Metal Voice
