Judas Priest have covered War Pigs in tribute to fellow Birmingham heavy metal legends Black Sabbath.
Earlier today (July 1), the self-anointed Metal Gods put out their take on the opening song from Sabbath’s seminal second album Paranoid, the original version of which they’ve played from the tape before their concerts for many years.
The band comment: “We are honoured to show our love for Ozzy [Osbourne] 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!”
Sabbath’s founding lineup – vocalist Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward – will reunite onstage for the first time in almost 20 years at their Back To The Beginning all-dayer this Saturday (July 5).
Being held at Villa Park in Birmingham, the show will mark Osbourne’s last time onstage, following his retirement from touring in 2023. The singer will play both with Sabbath and as a solo artist, and the bill will be rounded out by a who’s-who of hard rock and heavy metal, with other performers including Metallica, Guns N’ Roses and Slayer.
Priest are one of the few vaunted metal bands to not be on the lineup for Saturday, but they’re missing out for good reason. As frontman Rob Halford recently explained to Metal Hammer, the band are playing the 60th-anniversary celebrations for hard rockers Scorpions in Germany the same day and wouldn’t be able to make both shows happen.
He said he was “gutted” over the clash but added that founding guitarist K.K. Downing, who left Priest in 2011, would represent “the spirit of the band” at Back To The Beginning.
Priest are currently touring Europe on their Shield Of Pain run, celebrating both their latest album Invincible Shield and the 35th anniversary of their 1990 classic Painkiller. The tour will be capped off by two UK shows, the second being a co-headliner with Alice Cooper at the O2 Arena in London on July 25.
Priest will tour North America with Cooper from September to October. See details and get tickets via their website.
