After months of anticipation, heavy metal fans have been blessed with a new version of “War Pigs” performed by the dream team of Judas Priest and the late Ozzy Osbourne.
You can listen to the new version of the 1970 Black Sabbath classic below.
A few days before Osbourne made his final live appearance at the Back to the Beginning concert on July 5, Judas Priest released a new cover of “War Pigs” as a tribute to the singer and the legendary metal band he helped found.
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Rob Halford and company were unable to perform at the show, as they had already committed to opening for the Scorpions at their 60th anniversary celebration.
When Osbourne’s wife and manager Sharon heard Priest’s version, a light bulb went off in her head. “She approached me with this idea, she said, ‘I love your version of ‘War Pigs.’ Is there a way we can get Ozzy?,'” Halford told radio host Full Metal Jackie. “I was [like], ‘You’re asking me? This is gonna happen.'”
Halford went on to describe the result, which brings to mind Osbourne’s 2022 “Hellraiser” duet with Motorhead’s Lemmy Kilmister.
“So you get Ozzy singing a line and then I’m singing a line and Ozzy’s singing a line and I’m singing a line,” the Metal God explains. “It’s the first ever time in my entire life that I’ve been able to do a duet with Ozzy and I’m so eternally grateful and blessed that I was able to do that… it’s just going to a really special place.”
Sony Music Entertainment UK Ltd and Epic Records in the UK have pledged to donate all profits from audio streams, downloads, and physical sales of the recording to The Glenn Tipton Parkinson’s Foundation and Cure Parkinson’s. Longtime Judas Priest guitarist Tipton revealed he had been diagnosed with the disease in 2018.
Hear Judas Priest and Ozzy Osbourne Perform ‘War Pigs’
Hear Judas Priest Perform ‘War Pigs’
Hear Black Sabbath’s Original ‘War Pigs’
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