Tom Morello is an outspoken activist and an integral part of Rage Against the Machine’s sound. However, some may not know that he inherited his activism as well as his love of music from his mother, Mary Morello. Over the weekend, Mrs. Morello celebrated her 100th birthday, and her son organized a party worthy of such an inspirational lady. The festivities included Jack Black and a band of incredibly talented kids rocking out to an Ozzy Osbourne classic.
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Black and the band, dubbed the Junior Freedom Fighting Orchestra, performed a killer rendition of “Mr. Crowley” to close the show. While watching the video, it is hard not to draw parallels to School of Rock. Seeing the Tenacious D frontman jamming with a group of kids obviously brings back memories of the hit movie.
Black was obviously having a blast with the performance. Additionally, he was able to nail Osbourne’s Blizzard of Ozz-era vocal delivery in the song. However, it didn’t take long to see that he wasn’t the star of the show.
While the kids in School of Rock were solid musicians. However, they pale in comparison to the talent backing Black on this performance. The star of the show was arguably young Roman Morello, son of Tom and grandson of Mary. He nailed the guitar work throughout and even shredded multiple solos. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, it seems.
Morello posted the nearly 8-minute-long video to his Instagram account. “Mary Morello’s 100th bday celebration featured a stirring rendition of [Ozzy Osbourne] & [Randy Rhoads’] ‘Mr. Crowley performed by [Jack Black] and a kick-ass band of 12 & 13-year-olds,” he wrote in the caption. The guitarist added, “Mary was pleased!”
What grandparent wouldn’t be pleased? It was a killer rendition of a classic song. More importantly, Mrs. Morello got to watch her grandson shred like there was no tomorrow.
According to the post, Roman Morello was on guitar, Yoyoko Soma was on drums, Roya Feiz was on bass, and Hugo Weiss was on keys. During the performance, each of the kids takes a solo to show off their impressive chops.
Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images
