Jack Black’s Black Sabbath Tribute Band Gets the Ultimate Surprise — Geezer Butler Walks Onstage for ‘War Pigs’
Jack Black has spent years making his love for Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne impossible to miss.
This time, his tribute band got to play one of Sabbath’s greatest songs with a musician who helped create it.
Black reunited Jack Sabbath at Tom Morello’s Power to the People Festival on Saturday, leading his young band through a short celebration of Ozzy and Sabbath at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland.
Two songs into the set, the tribute suddenly became something much bigger.
Geezer Butler walked onto the stage.
And together, they launched into “War Pigs.”
Jack Sabbath Returns With a Young All-Star Band
Black wasn’t surrounded by typical veteran session musicians.
Jack Sabbath’s lineup featured an extraordinary collection of young players with some serious rock connections.
Roman Morello, Tom Morello’s son, handled guitar, while Revel Ian, son of Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian, played bass.
Teenage Japanese drummer Yoyoka Soma sat behind the kit, with Hugo Weiss on keyboards.
The group opened with Ozzy’s “Mr. Crowley” before moving into Black Sabbath’s “The Wizard.”
But the final song provided the moment everyone would remember.
Butler, who had already been announced as part of the festival lineup, joined Black and the young musicians for “War Pigs.”
Suddenly, a Black Sabbath tribute act had an actual member of Black Sabbath holding down the low end.
Geezer Butler Singles Out Yoyoka Soma
Butler appeared impressed by what he heard from his much younger bandmates.
After the performance, he specifically praised Soma on social media, calling the teenage musician “an amazing drummer.”
It was another remarkable moment for a group that began with considerably humbler intentions.
Jack Sabbath first came together in 2023 for the 100th birthday celebration of Tom Morello’s mother, Mary.
For that occasion, Black and the young musicians performed “Mr. Crowley.”
But the project didn’t disappear after the birthday party.
Their Ozzy Tribute Grew Into Something Bigger
Two years later, Jack Sabbath returned for another tribute to Osbourne.
In 2025, the band recreated the classic “Mr. Crowley” music video in connection with Ozzy’s Back to the Beginning farewell concert.
Black’s relationship with Ozzy’s music had already extended far beyond performing covers.
When Osbourne was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in 2024, Black delivered the induction speech.
He didn’t hold back while describing what Ozzy, Butler, Tony Iommi and Bill Ward meant to heavy music.
“This motherfucker invented Heavy Metal, along with Geezer Butler, Bill Ward, and the immortal Tony Iommi,” Black declared.
He described their music as some of the darkest and heaviest the world had heard, crediting Ozzy not only with helping create a genre but with achieving one of rock’s greatest career comebacks.
From Tribute Band to Playing With a Sabbath Legend
That history made Saturday’s performance feel like a natural progression.
Jack Sabbath began as a group of musicians celebrating music they loved. They later recreated one of Ozzy’s iconic performances. Black himself publicly honored Osbourne’s legacy at the Rock Hall.
Now they had Geezer Butler standing beside them playing “War Pigs.”
For Roman Morello, Revel Ian, Yoyoka Soma and Hugo Weiss, it meant performing a Black Sabbath classic alongside one of the musicians responsible for the original.
For Black, it was another chance to celebrate the band whose music he has championed so enthusiastically for years.
Jack Sabbath may have started as a loving tribute project, but the moment Geezer Butler joined them for “War Pigs,” the line between tribute and rock history suddenly became very thin.