British heavy metal legends have unveiled a new version their newly updated cover of Black Sabbath‘s “War Pigs, which now features posthumously released vocals from Ozzy Osbourne. While Judas Priest were absent from the late Ozzy Osbourne & Black Sabbath‘s July 5th ‘Back To The Beginning‘ farewell sendoff, it wasn’t by choice, as the group had prior live commitments with The Scorpions.
In lieu of not being able to take part in the Sabbath show, Judas Priest released their own cover of “War Pigs“ on July 02nd. A longtime friend of Osbourne, Judas Priest vocalist Rob Halford was rocked by the news of Ozzy‘s July 22nd passing, telling Talkin’ Rock with Meltdown that he “curled up in a ball and bawled” for hours after getting the call.
All proceeds from the track generated in the UK will be donated towards The Glenn Tipton Parkinson’s Foundation and Cure Parkinson’s. The latter charity was one selected by Osbourne to receive proceeds from the ‘Back To The Beginning‘ show. The former however is a foundation setup by Judas Priest guitarist Glenn Tipton, who stepped down from the stage in 2018 due to his Parkinson’s disease diagnosis — a condition Osbourne also suffered from.
