Heavy metal band Judas Priest have released a charity single featuring the late Ozzy Osbourne to raise money for Parkinson’s disease.
Osbourne, former frontman of Black Sabbath, was diagnosed with the degenerative neurological condition in 2019 and died at the age of 76 in July, weeks after a farewell gig at Villa Park, Aston in Birmingham, a stone’s throw from where he grew up.
Judas Priest, who formed in Birmingham in the 1960s, decided to release a charity version of Black Sabbath’s War Pigs after they were unable to join the band, and a host of other metal groups, at the show on July 5, due to prior commitments.
Band member Glenn Tipton, who has also been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, features on guitar with Rob Halford and Osbourne taking alternate vocal lines in the song.
Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne (Yui Mok/PA)
The track was initially conceived as a tribute video for Osbourne and Black Sabbath before the band suggested turning it into a charity single.
Osbourne and his fellow original Black Sabbath members, Tony Iommi, Terence “Geezer” Butler and Bill Ward, were the last to appear on stage as part of a star-studded line-up for the Back To The Beginning concert in July.
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Among the other bands performing were Anthrax, Metallica and Guns N’Roses, and there were messages of thanks from other celebrities, including Jack Black, Ricky Gervais and Dolly Parton.
Osbourne’s widow Sharon and children Aimee, Jack and Kelly visited floral tributes laid at Black Sabbath bridge following his death on July 22 in a cortege that weaved through the streets of his home city.
Osbourne, who also had a successful solo career, found a new legion of fans when he appeared in the 2000s reality TV series The Osbournes, starring alongside his wife and two youngest children.
Judas Priest’s rendition of the Black Sabbath classic was released on Friday with all profits donated to the Glenn Tipton Parkinson’s Foundation and Cure Parkinson’s.
[SRC] https://www.breakingnews.ie/entertainment/judas-priest-release-song-featuring-ozzy-osbourne-to-raise-money-for-parkinsons-1811886.html