Judas Priest have dropped a cover of Black Sabbath’s 1970 tune ‘War Pigs’ ahead of the Back to the Beginning concert this weekend.
Honoring their fellow-Birmingham band, Judas Priest’s cover of the iconic song was posted to Black Sabbath’s official YouTube channel yesterday (3 July), along with a note:
“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....!!”
Notably, Judas Priest aren’t gonna be at the huge Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne tribute show on Saturday (July 5), as they’d previously agreed to perform at Scorpions’ 60th anniversary concert in Germany on the exact same day.
Speaking to Metal Hammer, frontman Rob Halford said, “It all got announced and was a big deal - Scorpions and Priest - and suddenly I get this phone call [from Sharon Osbourne].
“‘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.’
"My mind went to Phil Collins when he did Live Aid, where he got on the Concorde from London to Philadelphia to play two gigs in two places. He was there before he left, thanks to the time zones!”
But Halford says it just wouldn’t be able to happen: “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… I was absolutely gutted.”
They might be missing Villa Park, but Judas Priest’s War Pigs cover means they’re still in on the action as metal’s biggest names take over this weekend.
Keen to watch the Back to the Beginning global stream this weekend? Check out our guide to everything you need to know about watching it from NZ.
