Judas Priest isn’t able to take part in Black Sabbath’s historic and star-studded farewell concert “Back to the Beginning” in Birmingham, U.K., this Saturday, July 5, because of a previously scheduled show that day with the Scorpions in Hannover, Germany. The Metal Gods, as Priest are known, still wanted to pay tribute to Black Sabbath and frontman Ozzy Osbourne as they close out their performing careers, so they’ve released an inspired cover of one of Sabbath’s all-time classic songs.
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Judas Priest has shared its own version of the epic and ominous 1970 Black Sabbath song “War Pigs.” You can check out a video of frontman Rob Halford and company performing the tune at Judas Priest’s and Black Sabbath’s social media pages.
The video is accompanied by a message from Judas Priest. It reads, “We are honored to show our love for Ozzy and Black Sabbath with our homage to ‘War Pigs’—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 video features Halford, bassist Ian Hill, drummer Scott Travis, and guitarists Richie Faulkner and Glenn Tipton. Tipton, who joined Priest in 1974, stopped touring full-time with the group in 2018 after revealing he’d been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Judas Priest has used “War Pigs” as its walk-on music at concerts for many years.
Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi acknowledged his approval of the “War Pigs” cover in the comments section of Priest’s Instagram post. He reacted by sharing a black heart emoji and a sign-of-the-horns emoji.
About Judas Priest’s and Halford’s Connection with Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath and Judas Priest long have had a strong bond, being two of the all-time great heavy-metal acts, while both also hail from Birmingham, U.K.
In addition, Halford twice performed with Black Sabbath as the band’s guest frontman. In 1992, Rob took over for Ronnie James Dio, after Dio refused to perform because the then-current Sabbath lineup was opening for Osbourne. Then, in 2004, Halford filled in for Ozzy when Osbourne fell ill before Black Sabbath’s set at an Ozzfest tour show in Camden, New Jersey.
Halford was on hand at the Camden show because Judas Priest was among the acts on the 2004 Ozzfest tour, which Black Sabbath headlined.
Halford on Not Being Able to Play the “Back to the Beginning” Show
In a recent interview with Metal Hammer, Halford admitted that he was very disappointed to miss performing at the “Back to the Beginning” concert.
He explained that Judas Priest had already signed on to open for the Scorpions that day at a show celebrating the German rockers’ 60th anniversary in their hometown of Hannover.
Halford also noted that he hadn’t known about Black Sabbath and Osbourne’s farewell concert when he accepted the Scorpions gig.
“It all got announced and was a big deal—Scorpions and Priest – and suddenly I get this phone call [from Sharon Osbourne],” Halford recalled. “[She said,] ‘Robbie, I know you’ve got this gig with Scorpions, but could you consider coming over to do a thing with Ozzy and the guys, he’d love to see you.’”
Halford noted that traveling by plane to make a guest appearance at the U.K. event while still trying to perform in Germany just wasn’t feasible.
“Even with a private plane, there’s a word called ‘technical’, where something could go wrong, or the weather that time of year could cause problems,” Rob said. “I was absolutely gutted.”
More About the “Back to the Beginning” Concert
As previously reported, the “Back to the Beginning” concert will take place at the Villa Park soccer stadium in Birmingham. The sold-out, all-day event will feature what are expected to be Osbourne’s and Black Sabbath’s final performances.
Ozzy will play his own brief solo set with various musicians before joining the other Black Sabbath members for what will be the original lineup’s first performance since 2005. The show also will feature Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Slayer, Pantera, Alice in Chains, Lamb of God, Anthrax, Mastodon, Gojira, and Halestorm.
In addition, a bevy of special guests will hit the stage to celebrate the legacy of Osbourne and Black Sabbath. Among the other performers confirmed for the show are Sammy Hagar, Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, The Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan, Disturbed’s David Draiman, Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst, and Zakk Wylde.
Morello is serving as the event’s music director. The concert will be hosted by actor Jason Momoa.
Proceeds raised by the concert will benefit a trio of charities. They are Cure Parkinson’s, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Acorn Children’s Hospice.
A pay-per-view livestream of the event also is available for purchase at BacktotheBeginning.com.
(Photo by Stuart Westwood/Shutterstock)
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