Judas Priest’s Rob Halford Says Ozzy Osbourne Was ‘Thrilled and Delighted’ by ‘War Pigs’ Collab: ‘He Was Grinning’

Though it wasn’t released until much than 2 months aft his death, Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford says his longtime person Ozzy Osbourne was capable to perceive and was, successful fact, pleased with Priest’s caller mentation of Black Sabbath‘s “War Pigs” that features Osbourne’s vocals.

“The implicit thrill for america each is he, with Sharon, listened to the final, finished mixing and helium was grinning – helium was smiling and helium was precise happy,” Halford exclusively tells Billboard. “This each came backmost to america successful a enactment from Sharon, saying helium was perfectly thrilled and delighted that we spell to bash thing unneurotic musically successful this peculiar way. So for him to bash that and past 2 weeks aboriginal to spell wherever helium went was conscionable unbelievable.”

Osbourne passed distant connected July 22 astatine the property of 75, conscionable 17 days aft his last show — with his ain set and Black Sabbath — astatine Aston Villa Park successful his hometown of Birmingham, England. Judas Priest was besides formed determination successful 1969, a twelvemonth aft Sabbath.

“War Pigs (Charity Version)” was released online Sept. 26, with proceeds going to Priest guitarist Glenn Tipton’s Parkinson’s Foundation and the Cure Parkinson’s nonprofit that the Osbournes support. A CD mentation of the azygous is owed retired aboriginal this month.

“It was precise beauteous but precise poignant for america to unite for the archetypal clip ever successful the past of some (acts) connected a opus that’s beloved by millions of metalheads astir the world,” Halford says. “To enactment these 2 bands — Priest and Sabbath — unneurotic successful this format is conscionable sensational.”

The caller “War Pigs,” with a pre-existing signaling of Osbourne singing the way from Black Sabbath’s 1970 album, Paranoid, was an outgrowth of immoderate challenging logistics that surrounded the Back to the Beginning show.

As longtime friends and an Ozzfest veteran, Priest was, of course, asked to beryllium portion of the bill. But the set had already committed to play arsenic portion of Scorpions’ 60th day amusement successful Hannover, Germany, connected the aforesaid night. And portion determination was immoderate information to flying Priest betwixt the 2 events the logistics didn’t enactment out.

“We were perfectly gutted that we couldn’t instrumentality part” successful Back to the Beginning, Halford says. “But past we instantly thought, ‘Is determination thing we tin offer? Is determination thing we tin enactment to Ozzy, to Sabbath, to the lawsuit conscionable to amusement the emotion that we person for him and the set and everybody?”

Recording “War Pigs” was a “no-brainier,” according to Halford. Judas Priest has agelong utilized the opus arsenic pre-show euphony earlier the set hits stage. “It’s conscionable a great, immense rallying outcry to get each of the metalheads acceptable and focused that, ‘OK, Priest’s gonna deed the stage,'” Halford says.

The radical deed the workplace with Andy Sneap, who’s produced Priest’s past 2 workplace albums and tours successful Tipton’s stead.

“We gave it what we telephone the Judas Priest-style dense metallic treatment,” Halford says. “...