JUDAS PRIEST Will Release A Version Of “War Pigs” With OZZY OSBOURNE’s Vocals

Judas Priest drummer Scott Travis has shared his memories of touring alongside Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath, reflecting on the bond between the two legendary bands and revealing how a Sabbath cover recorded by Priest has taken on a new, poignant meaning following Ozzy‘s death.

Speaking on Rock Of Nations With Dave Kinchen And Shane McEachern, Travis looked back on Ozzfest 2004, when Priest toured the U.S. with the reunited original lineup of Black Sabbath. “Rob [Halford] rejoined Priest and we were on the Ozzfest tour [in] 2004… The two headliners [that year] were Black Sabbath and Priest,” Travis said.

“That was a whole summer tour in America, so it was really great to be able to do that tour with original Sabbath and, at that point, it was still with K.K. [Downing] and Glenn [Tipton] in the band. So that was just a super-cool moment, and, obviously, Rob rejoining Priest after being gone for 13 years — a long time. So that was very cool.”

Travis also addressed why Priest were absent from Black Sabbath‘s historic final performance, which took place on July 5, 2022 at Villa Park in Birmingham, UK. “We knew about the Sabbath reunion or the Sabbath final show that was coming up in the U.K., but as I’m sure you’re aware, we had already contracted and agreed to do the Scorpions‘ 60^th-anniversary show in Germany [on the same day]. So we couldn’t do the Ozzy thing.”

Instead, Priest decided to honor Sabbath with a recorded tribute. “We thought it’d be cool to record a Sabbath song as a tribute to Ozzy. And, of course, we got the blessing from [Ozzy‘s wife and manager] Sharon Osbourne. So we did our version of ‘War Pigs’. But we did that well before — not only before the Black Sabbath show but before Ozzy passed. So that was kind of weird that we were able to do that.”

Travis went on to reveal that fans may eventually hear a special version of the song that pairs Rob Halford with Ozzy himself. “I think there’s a version coming out with Ozzy actually singing on that version. In other words, Rob will sing a verse and then Ozzy sings a verse. I think that’s coming out.”

The drummer confirmed that news of Ozzy‘s death broke while Priest were still on the road. “We were in the middle of our tour [when we got the news that Ozzy had died], and it was devastating,” he said.

From Ozzfest 2004 — a “super-cool” summer that brought together two of heavy metal’s most influential bands — to their “War Pigs” tribute, Judas Priest‘s ties to Ozzy Osbourne run deep. For Scott Travis, those memories are now inseparable from the shock of his passing. As he summed up, what began as a planned salute to Sabbath has become an accidental memorial to one of metal’s greatest icons.