The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class of 2021 will include heavy metal guitar virtuoso Randy Rhoads as a recipient of the Musical Excellence Award.

Rhoads will receive the award alongside hip-hop legend LL Cool J and soul music ace Billy Preston.

Inductees in the performer category include Foo Fighters, Tina Turner, Carole King, the Go-Go's, Jay-Z and Todd Rundgren.

Rhoads, who tragically passed away in a plane crash in 1982 at age 25, got his first break with Quiet Riot but became a legend thanks to his work on Ozzy Osbourne's first two solo albums, Blizzard of Ozz (1980) and Diary of a Madman (1981).

Along with writing and arranging the music on both albums, Rhoads redefined lead guitar playing with his post-Van Halen fusion of blues, rock and neo-Classical melody.

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