Judas Priest’s Charity Version of “War Pigs” Featuring Ozzy Osbourne Out Now

There are few voices in metal that really stand the test of time more than Judas Priest‘s Rob Halford and the late Ozzy Osbourne. Both men forged a path that essentially created everything we’ve come to know and love about this genre of music. Without them, none of us would know what metal would even be. So to know that there’s only one instance of those men collaborating and it’s only coming out today, it feels like a massively missed opportunity.

Still, earlier today, we got the charity version of the classic Black Sabbath song “War Pigs,” featuring both Halford and Osbourne on vocals. The two powerhouses trade lines in the track during the verses and each man gets to go a little longer in other parts. It’s a duet of epic proportions that’s only made all the more poignant now that Osbourne is no longer with us.

While speaking on a recent episode of the Full Metal Jackie show, Halford went into a little more detail about how the cover came about.

“It’s close to five million views on the BLACK SABBATH official site, which is very generous of them to put us on there. ‘Cause we’re friends. We’ve been friends forever. What is cool and what is kind of waiting in the wings is Ozzy singing with me doing ‘War Pigs’ together. We’ve been able to do that. So that’s just kind of — it’s there. We’re just having to go through all the rigmarole of legal clearance and so on and so forth. But when Sharon said, and this is just so beautiful, when she approached me with this idea, she said, ‘I love your version of ‘War Pigs’. Is there a way we can get Ozzy [on it as well]?’ I said, ‘You’re asking me? This is gonna happen.’ So we were able to make it work.

“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, and 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 and grieving that I was able to do that. But when you hear it, it’s just colossal. If you think that you’ve heard the one experience of PRIEST’s ‘War Pigs’, but when you hear PRIEST’s ‘War Pigs’ with Ozzy singing on that track, it’s just going to a really special place.”

In addition to the song’s release, it’s since been announced that all profits generated in the U.K. from streams, downloads, and physical sales will be donated to The Glenn Tipton Parkinson’s Foundation and Cure Parkinson’s.

So check out the track, maybe buy a copy to contribute to the charity aspect of its release, and play it loud enough for Ozzy to hear it — wherever he is.

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