Who Will Cover Which Black Sabbath Songs at Their Farewell Show?

On Saturday July 5, some of the biggest names in rock and metal will assemble to pay tribute to Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath at the Back to the Beginning farewell concert.

In addition to the long-awaited reunion of the original Black Sabbath lineup, the lineup includes Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Tool, Slayer, Steven Tyler, Pantera and many more.

Osbourne’s longtime guitarist Zakk Wylde revealed that all of the artists on the bill will be covering Black Sabbath songs, as Osbourne is only expected to be able to perform “bits and pieces” due to his ongoing health issues.

So the question becomes, which Black Sabbath songs is each artist going to cover? Sammy Hagar recently announced that he will be covering “Flying High Again,” which if true opens the field of candidates to include solo Osbourne songs. We make some guesses and some wishes below:

Black Sabbath

It’s only fair for the guests of honor to hog most of the most popular songs for themselves. It’s hard to imagine a better opener than “Black Sabbath,” and “Iron Man” and “Paranoid” seem like slam-dunks as well. Maybe they go for four and include “Children of the Grave?” It wouldn’t be surprising to see guest vocalists join in to help Osbourne out during the set.

 

Ozzy Osbourne

Presumably Osbourne will want to say goodbye to his solo career as well. Maybe he plays a couple of his own songs before being joined by his Sabbath bandmates for the grand finale? “Crazy Train” and “Mama, I’m Coming Home” seem like the most “must-have” necessities, but maybe there’s time for “I Don’t Know” as well?

 

Read More: Ozzy vs. Black Sabbath with Dio: 1980 Set List Comparison

 

Metallica

Where does a 500-pound gorilla sleep? Wherever it wants. What Black Sabbath song will Metallica cover? The answer is probably about the same.

They’ve done plenty of Sabbath covers already, including a very cool medley of “Sabbra Cadabra” and “A National Acrobat” on their 1998 Garage Inc. album. They also helped induct Sabbath into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005 by performing “Iron Man” and “Hole in the Sky.” They’ve covered “Paranoid” a couple of times, and Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo performed “War Pigs” during the nightly “doodle” segment of the band’s 2017 show in Birmingham.

A full-band “War Pigs” could be cool, but in a 2023 interview James Hetfield offered up another tantalizing possibility, citing “Into the Void” as his favorite Sabbath song while praising Tony Iommi: “He can go from the heaviest doom riff into a happy mode and it would still sound heavy.”

 

Guns N’ Roses

Axl Rose performed a lovely solo piano rendition of the Bill Ward-sung Technical Ecstasy rarity “It’s Alright” on Guns N’ Roses’ Live Era ’87-’93 album, but we’re guessing the band will be tackling a more famous song at the farewell show. Here’s a dream scenario: “The Wizard,” with Aerosmith‘s Steven Tyler on harmonica.

 

Tool

The trippy “Planet Caravan” seems like a perfect match for Tool, and in particular for Maynard James Keenan’s vocals. The only problem is, Pantera has held a large claim on that song for over 30 years after covering it on their Far Beyond Drive album. “N.I.B.” or “Killing Yourself to Live” could be good choices, but if they really want to dig deep into the vaults how about the criminally underappreciated Sabotage epic “Megalomania?”

 

Slayer

Slayer’s Kerry King promises fans will be happy with the Sabbath song he chose for the farewell show. “I drug my feet and picked our song really late, when there weren’t as many obvious choices,” the guitarist told Rolling Stone Brasil. “But the one I picked is gonna work out really cool… It’s gonna be killer.”

Slayer covered the Black Sabbath track “Hand of Doom” on the second Nativity in Black tribute album, but some wise Reddit commenters have offered up another good idea – “Symptom of the Universe” from Sabotage.

 

Pantera

As mentioned above, Pantera has probably earned the right to claim “Planet Caravan” for themselves. But if they’d rather switch things up, there are some major songs still available on our nerdy little draft board. How about ‘War Pigs?”

Longtime Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde, currently touring as a member of Pantera, isn’t too concerned his spot on the set list. “As far as I’m concerned, I’m a team player,” he told Chaz and AJ in the Morning. “Whatever you need me to do — whatever pass route you need me to run, I’ll run it.”

 

Alice in Chains

Being invited to perform at the Back to the Beginning show gives Jerry Cantrell a chance to return to his band’s early days, as Alice in Chains opened many shows for Ozzy and Black Sabbath, and recruited longtime bassist Mike Inez from Osbourne’s solo band in 1993.

“I’m really stoked myself to see it, and to try and do those songs justice, learning a couple of cool tunes to play for the show,” he told Rock Feed. “it’s gonna be fun.” The band has covered “Sweet Leaf” on at least two occasions, and it sounds pretty great so maybe that’s the move here.

 

Anthrax

It sounds like the hardest part of the Black Sabbath tribute show is already over for Antrhax’s Scott Ian – keeping the show a secret. “I wasn’t even telling friends and stuff until it was announced,” he told Guitar World. “I didn’t want to be responsible for anything leaking. It’s amazing. I never thought I would get to see it again, you know?”

He’s determined to remain faithful to the source material, within reason. “We’re not looking to change the arrangements. We covered ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’ back in the ‘80s; we did our best to honor it. With my guitar tone – which sounds different from Tony’s – we probably did it faster; it was just who we were. I don’t try to ape it because I can’t. I just play it how I’m going to play it and have fun.”

“Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” still seems like a great choice, although if Sabbath isn’t doing “Children of the Grave” that would also be a fantastic fit.

 

Steven Tyler

It’s been nearly two years since Aerosmith was forced to stop touring because of Steven Tyler’s vocal cord injury, but the singer has made a couple of brief live performances since that time, most recently last month alongside bandmate Joe Perry. We already suggested a team-up with Guns N’ Roses above. If Osbourne’s not going to tackle “Mama, I’m Coming Home,” or if he needs a duet partner, Tyler is the perfect fit. If not, maybe “Changes?”