Geezer Butler Plays Black Sabbath’s ‘War Pigs’ With Apocalyptica

In Las Vegas this week, Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler joined Apocalyptica onstage to perform Sabbath’s classic “War Pigs.” Apocalyptica, the Finnish symphonic metal band, were in Nevada winding down their current U.S. tour with the Norwegian rock act Leprous.

The orchestral heavy act, including touring vocalist Franky Perez, also covered the Black Sabbath song earlier in the trek. Butler and Perez both live in Las Vegas, per Blabbermouth, making the Butler-Apocalyptica team-up at Vegas’ Brooklyn Bowl on Tuesday (Oct. 4) a convenient collaboration.

See footage down toward the bottom of this post.

Butler and Perez appear on record with Apocalyptica on “I’ll Get Through It,” released in March. Diane Warren, the acclaimed songwriter who’s a friend of Butler’s, penned the tune.

“Franky and I were visiting [her] at her studio,” Butler explained. “She played us this song, saying that she thought it would work well with Franky’s voice. He gave it a try on the spot. We loved it. Franky then suggested sending it to Apocalyptica. They loved it, and the rest is history.”

Last week, Butler joined Foo Fighters, Metallica’s Lars Ulrich and Sebastian Bach to cover classic Sabbath songs at the Los Angeles tribute to Taylor Hawkins, the Foos’ drummer who died in March.

Apocalyptica With Geezer Butler, “War Pigs” (Black Sabbath) [Live; Oct. 4, 2022]

Apocalyptica, “War Pigs” (Black Sabbath Cover) [Live; Oct. 2, 2022]

Apocalyptica + Franky Perez ft. Geezer Butler, “I’ll Get Through It” (Music Video)

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