Judas Priest Shows Love For Black Sabbath With Bombastic ‘War Pigs’ Cover

Judas Priest honored fellow metal pioneers Black Sabbath with a cover of “War Pigs.” The performance video was shared via Sabbath’s official YouTube channel with the band’s star-studded farewell concert featuring the original four members — Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi and Bill Ward — set for Friday, July 5.

There are many parallels between Black Sabbath and Judas Priest. Both groups hail from Birmingham, England, a highly industrial city that conjured the dark themes of both bands. Judas Priest and Black Sabbath were founded in 1969 and ‘68 respectively, although Sabbath adopted their legendary moniker in 1969 after performing as Earth, which included guitarist Ernie Chataway who would go on to play with Judas Priest. Both bands are looked to as heavy metal royalty.

As Judas Priest will be on tour when Sabbath’s The Final Show takes place in Birmingham, Priest offered the “War Pigs” video as their tribute. Metal will naturally be well-represented at Sabbath’s farewell concert with performances by Metallica, Slayer, Pantera and more.

Appearing on Black Sabbath’s groundbreaking 1970 album, Paranoid, “War Pigs” has been a live staple for Judas Priest, as they explained in a note accompanying the “War Pigs” video:

“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….!!”

Watch Judas Priest honor Black Sabbath with “War Pigs” below:

Scroll down for Judas Priest’s tour routing and ticket info.