Geezer Butler Joins Jack Black’s ‘Jack Sabbath’ for ‘War Pigs’

Jack Black turned his Black Sabbath tribute set into the real thing at Power to the People, bringing out Black Sabbath bassist and primary lyricist Geezer Butler for “War Pigs”.

Jack Black brought some actual Sabbath into Jack Sabbath over the weekend, with Geezer Butler joining his Black Sabbath tribute band for “War Pigs” – a song whose lyrics Butler himself wrote – at Tom Morello’s Power to the People festival.

Black took to the stage at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland on Saturday, 3 October alongside a young backing band featuring Tom Morello’s son Roman Morello on guitar, Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian’s son Revel Ian on bass, drummer Yoyoka Soma and keyboardist Hugo Weiss.

Performing under the entirely appropriate name Jack Sabbath, the group opened its three-song set with Ozzy Osbourne’s “Mr. Crowley” before moving into Black Sabbath’s “The Wizard”. Black even took up harmonica for the latter, having learned the instrument specifically for the performance.

Then came “War Pigs”.

Butler emerged for the set closer, putting the Black Sabbath bassist alongside the next-generation group for one of the band’s defining songs. The performance carried some extra weight after Black Sabbath included “War Pigs” in their four-song final set at Back to the Beginning in Birmingham last year.

But Jack Sabbath didn’t materialise out of nowhere for Saturday’s festival.

Black and Roman Morello first teamed up for “Mr. Crowley” during celebrations for Tom Morello’s mother Mary’s 100th birthday in 2023, backed by a group that already included Soma and Weiss.

The idea resurfaced in considerably bigger circumstances in 2025, when Black, Roman, Revel and their young bandmates recreated “Mr. Crowley” for a video tribute screened during Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne’s final concert at Villa Park.

Black’s connection to Ozzy stretches further still. He was chosen to induct Osbourne as a solo artist into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2024, delivering a characteristically enthusiastic tribute to the singer and Black Sabbath’s role in shaping heavy metal.

Saturday’s “War Pigs” performance effectively brought that continuing tribute full circle by putting Butler himself into the band.

The three-song Jack Sabbath appearance formed part of the inaugural Power to the People festival, curated by Tom Morello as a one-day event combining music, community action and civic engagement.

BLUNT previewed the sold-out festival and its free livestream ahead of the event, which brought together Foo Fighters, Bruce Springsteen, Serj Tankian, Public Enemy, Dave Matthews, Joan Baez, Cypress Hill, The Linda Lindas and a long list of collaborative performances.

Jack Sabbath wasn’t Black’s only supergroup moment of the day, either. He later joined Morello, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, Cypress Hill, Public Enemy’s Chuck D and Scott Ian for a one-off performance of Aerosmith and Run-DMC staple “Walk This Way”.

The younger members of Jack Sabbath also earned the approval of the genuine article. Following the performance, Butler singled out 16-year-old Yoyoka Soma as “an amazing drummer” – a fitting endorsement for a set built around heavy music passing from one generation to the next.