In the past couple of years, rapper Post Malone has gotten to live out every metal fan’s dream. Whether it’s collaborating with Ozzy Osbourne, jamming with members of Metallica, or just playing beer pong with Gatecreeper, Malone has used his renown to join forces with some of rock and metal’s most dubious acts. Now, he’s taken things another step further, having jammed on a massive cover of Black Sabbath’s immortal metal dirge “War Pigs” alongside Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith — and none other than top-hatted guitar legend Slash.
The recording comes from New Years Eve’s Bud Light Seltzer Sessions Presents: New Years Eve 2021 Facebook livestream concert from the MGM Resorts in Las Vegas (woof, there’s a mouthful), in which Post Malone was joined by other performers in ringing in the new year. The version of “War Pigs” that he, Chad, and Slash played is a solid 10-minute banger, doing justice to the original while simultaneously showing how these guys can just have fun being on stage, wiling out with each other.
Check out the cover below:
Rad.
Post Malone’s metal journey kicked off in earnest when he collaborated with Ozzy Osbourne on the track “Take What You Want.” Post’s producer Andrew Watt then went on to help with the creation of Ozzy’s new album Ordinary Man–and, apparently, is currently working on the Prince of Darkness’ follow-up record.
“We’re about halfway through,” Watt said in a recent interview. “But, you know, it’s been hard with COVID and everything to keep him safe. We all test every day before we work and it’s just me, Ozzy and my engineer. So it’s taken a little longer this time, but it’s cool because the last one was made in this, like, swift love affair of passion, like, ‘Oh my God, this is incredible!’…But this time everyone’s moving a little slower and we’re taking a little more time. And the songs, there’s some songs on there that are like eight or nine minutes long that are these really crazy journeys. I’m really excited about it.”
Watt went on to reveal that Smith will be playing with Ozzy on this record, as will be Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo, Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.
“There’s a bunch of people involved,” says Watt. “I can’t say for sure until the end, but I started doing a bunch of basic tracks with Chad and Robert Trujillo, who used to play in Ozzy’s band. And Taylor Hawkins also came in and played a bunch on the record as well, which adds a different flair – it kind of harkened back to Ozzy’s ‘80s era, in a great way. And I think it’s so cool for a rock fan to be able to listen to half an album with Chad Smith on drums, and then you flip it over and you get to hear Taylor Hawkins.”
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Words by Chris Krovatin
