{"id":5695,"date":"2025-10-04T17:40:56","date_gmt":"2025-10-04T17:40:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/rob-halford-ozzy-osbourne-war-pigs-judas-priest-interview-1236082139\/"},"modified":"2025-10-04T17:40:56","modified_gmt":"2025-10-04T17:40:56","slug":"rob-halford-ozzy-osbourne-war-pigs-judas-priest-interview-1236082139","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/rob-halford-ozzy-osbourne-war-pigs-judas-priest-interview-1236082139\/","title":{"rendered":"Judas Priest\u2019s Rob Halford Says Ozzy Osbourne Was \u2018Thrilled and Delighted\u2019 by \u2018War Pigs\u2019 Collab: \u2018He Was\u00a0Grinning\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tThough it wasn\u2019t released until more than two months after his death, Judas Priest<\/a> frontman Rob Halford<\/a> says his longtime friend Ozzy Osbourne<\/a> was able to hear and was, in fact, pleased with Priest\u2019s new version of Black Sabbath<\/a>\u2018s \u201cWar Pigs\u201d that features Osbourne\u2019s vocals.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tJudas Priest Recorded a Cover of \u2018War Pigs\u2019 With Ozzy Osbourne Before His Death: \u2018So Eternally Grateful and\u00a0Blessed\u2019\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tOzzy Osbourne Dead at 76, Just Weeks After Black Sabbath\u2019s Final\u00a0Concert\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tJudas Priest Can\u2019t Make It to Final Black Sabbath Show, So They Dropped a Killer \u2018War Pigs\u2019 Cover\u00a0Instead\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\n\t\u201cThe absolute thrill for us all is he, with Sharon, listened to the final, finished mixing and he was grinning \u2013 he was smiling and he was very happy,\u201d Halford exclusively tells Billboard<\/em>. \u201cThis all came back to us in a note from Sharon, saying he was absolutely thrilled and delighted that we go to do something together musically in this particular way. So for him to do that and then two weeks later to go where he went was just unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOsbourne passed away on July 22<\/a> at the age of 75, just 17 days after his final performance \u2014 with his own band and Black Sabbath \u2014 at Aston Villa Park in his hometown of Birmingham, England. Judas Priest was also formed there in 1969, a year after Sabbath.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWar Pigs (Charity Version)\u201d was released online Sept. 26<\/a>, with proceeds going to Priest guitarist Glenn Tipton\u2019s Parkinson\u2019s Foundation and the Cure Parkinson\u2019s nonprofit that the Osbournes support. A CD version of the single is due out later this month.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt was very beautiful but very poignant for us to unite for the first time ever in the history of both (acts) on a song that\u2019s beloved by millions of metalheads around the world,\u201d Halford says. \u201cTo put these two bands \u2014 Priest and Sabbath \u2014 together in this format is just sensational.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe new \u201cWar Pigs,\u201d with a pre-existing recording of Osbourne singing the track from Black Sabbath\u2019s 1970 album, Paranoid<\/em>, was an outgrowth of some challenging logistics that surrounded the Back to the Beginning show.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs longtime friends and an Ozzfest veteran, Priest was, of course, asked to be part of the bill. But the band had already committed to play as part of Scorpions\u2019 60th anniversary show in Hannover, Germany, on the same night. And while there was some consideration to flying Priest between the two events the logistics didn\u2019t work out.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe were absolutely gutted that we couldn\u2019t take part\u201d in Back to the Beginning, Halford says. \u201cBut then we immediately thought, \u2018Is there anything we can offer? Is there anything we can put to Ozzy, to Sabbath, to the event just to show the love that we have for him and the band and everybody?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRecording \u201cWar Pigs\u201d was a \u201cno-brainier,\u201d according to Halford. Judas Priest has long used the song as pre-show music before the band hits stage. \u201cIt\u2019s just a great, huge rallying cry to get all of the metalheads ready and focused that, \u2018OK, Priest\u2019s gonna hit the stage,’\u201d Halford says.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe group hit the studio with Andy Sneap, who\u2019s produced Priest\u2019s last two studio albums and tours in Tipton\u2019s stead.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe gave it what we call the Judas Priest-style heavy metal treatment,\u201d Halford says. \u201cIt\u2019s such a brilliant, classic track that you can\u2019t really mess with it. You\u2019ve got to stay true to the core components of the song, and that\u2019s what we did. We added a little bit of the Priest dimension because we wanted to put something of our signature flavor into the track,\u201d which was achieved primarily via drummer Scott Travis\u2019 distinctive fills with some guitar nuances by Tipton and Richie Faulkner.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cEverybody did a magnificent job,\u201d Halford notes, and Sharon Osbourne came back with one suggestion. \u201cShe said, \u2018Hey, is there a possibility we can get Ozzy singing with Rob on the track?\u2019 I was doing the happy dance, \u2019cause here for the first time in my life I have the opportunity to sing with Ozzy, so that\u2019s what we did.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd Halford was pleased by how well his vocals meshed with Osbourne\u2019s when they were added.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe way I sing on this particular song is in the same kind of realm as Ozzy,\u201d he explains. \u201cI would never say I\u2019m trying to copy Ozzy; it\u2019s just the way\u2026 maybe something in the water in Birmingham \u2014 or in the beer in Birmingham, \u2019cause we were both drinkers. But we have voices that are very, very close to match up. It\u2019s kind of spooky \u2014 when Ozzy sings, when I sing, the way the two voices are put together it\u2019s absolutely magical. We\u2019re all just so happy that we were able to do justice to such a great moment in metal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNevertheless, Halford says it took some time for him to be able to listen to \u201cWar Pigs (Charity Version)\u201d after Osbourne\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI would get through 30 seconds and I would just have to switch it off because I was just so overcome with emotion,\u201d he says. \u201cTo be in the same experience of that moment with Ozzy was just too much for me, and it was too close. I\u2019m still grieving. It\u2019s still very tough for me because of my friendship and my love for the man. It took me awhile to listen to the whole song in one go without any breaks, and now I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tPriest still plays Sabbath\u2019s \u201cWar Pigs\u201d before the band hits stage, and since Osbourne\u2019s death the group has paid tribute to him \u2014 and other deceased musicians \u2014 during the song \u201cGiants in the Sky.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe charity component, meanwhile, came from the Priest camp and was readily agreed to by Sharon Osbourne. \u201cIt\u2019s a great back end, as far as the good it\u2019s going to do and\u2026 be added to that great haul of cash that was drawn up on the (Back to the Beginning) show,\u201d Halford says.<\/p>\n

\n\tJudas Priest is currently on tour with Alice Cooper and Corrosion of Conformity, wrapping up Oct. 25 in Houston. The group\u2019s lone announced date for 2026 so far is the Bloodstock Open Air festival in the U.K.<\/p>\n

\n\tHalford says he\u2019s also hoping Priest will make a 20th studio album in the near future to follow up last year\u2019s Invincible Shield<\/em>, which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard<\/em>\u2018s Top Hard Rock Albums chart and No. 4 on the Top Rock Albums survey.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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