Judas Priest singer Rob Halford admitted earlier this year that he was “gutted” to be missing out on the massive Black Sabbath Back to the Beginning gig this weekend in Birmingham, England. Unfortunately, the “Breaking the Law” band is double-booked on Saturday (July 5), so they cannot make it back to pay homage to metal god Ozzy Osbourne and his band as part of the epic roster of hard rock bands lined up for the show at Villa Park.
So on Tuesday, Halford’s band did the next best thing: they posted their killer cover of Sabbath’s 1970 anti-war anthem “War Pigs,” complete with a slick performance video in which the group rip through the song’s thundering attack. “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….!!” Priest wrote in a note alongside the video.
Halford, dressed in his signature all-black studded leather, bellows the ominous song’s lashing of leaders who carelessly send their constituents to battle as they hide behind their desks in tribute to the 76-year old Osbourne and his original band. “Politicians hide themselves away/ They only started the war/ Why should they go out to fight?/ They leave that all to the poor/ Time will tell on their power minds,” Halford howls as bassist Ian Hill plucks out the song’s rumbling bottom and guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner serve up the 8-minute classic’s punishing riffs.
At one point, Halford even throws up a devil horns hand signal over his head as he sings “Satan laughing spreads his wings” as drummer Scott Travis’ uncorks drum roll after drum roll. Though Priest will not be on hand, there will be plenty of others taking the stage to bow down at the altar of Ozzy, guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward and bassist Geezer Butler. Among the groups on tap to perform are: Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Gojira, Guns N’ Roses, Alice in Chains, Lamb of God, Halestorm, Anthrax, Mastodon and a supergroup featuring members of the Smashing Pumpkins, Limp Bizkit and Smashing Pumpkins. Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello will serve as the event’s musical director.
Check out Judas Priest’s “War Pigs” cover below.
