Judas Priest cover Black Sabbath’s ‘War Pigs’ in final tribute
In light of Black Sabbath’s upcoming ‘Back To The Beginning’ farewell show, set to take place in Birmingham on July 5th, Judas Priest have shared a special cover of ‘War Pigs’.
Of the special cover, the band said, “We are honoured to show our love for Ozzy and Black Sabbath with our homage of ‘War Pigs’. It’s a song we play at every show around the world that fans sing along to reinforcing their love as well for the legendary Prince Of Darkness!!”
The huge show will include Steven Tyler, Soundgarden, Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Slayer, Pantera, Alice in Chains, Anthrax, Mastodon, Tool, as well as members of Limp Bizkit, Smashing Pumpkins, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Megadeth, Van Halen, Ghost, and Faith No More. However, Judas Priest will not join for the celebration of epic proportions.
Despite the fact that both Black Sabbath and Judas Priest hail from Birmingham, Judas Priest were already booked to play with Scorpions in Germany on the same date. Sabbath’s manager and Ozzy Osbourne’s wife tried everything to get the band involved. Frontman Rob Halford revealed that she even offered to fly the band out on a private jet, but he turned the offer down.
Instead, the band has made their presence known with the new cover, a toast to Black Sabbath’s lasting legacy. It will be the first time in more than two decades that drummer Bill Ward will join Osbourne, Tony Iommi, and Geezer Butler for a show. Butler recently revealed, “The whole point of this last show was to finish with the original four of us playing together, so I wouldn’t have contemplated it without Bill.”
The farewell show is set to boost the local Birmingham economy by up to £20 million. In a statement, Sharon Osbourne said that the city “means so much to Ozzy”, and that “when it comes to heavy metal music, Black Sabbath forming and his love of Aston Villa – it all started here.”
Back to the Beginning takes place on July 5th.
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