Jack Black and Geezer Butler Perform War Pigs in Maryland

The Performance at Merriweather Post Pavilion

On Saturday night, **October 3, 2026**, legendary bassist Geezer Butler made a surprise appearance at the **Merriweather Post Pavilion** in **Columbia, Maryland**. He joined **Jack Sabbath**, a Black Sabbath tribute act fronted by actor and musician **Jack Black**, during the **Power To The People** festival hosted by Tom Morello. The collaboration featured a high-energy rendition of the classic track **"War Pigs"** to close out the tribute band's set.

The Jack Sabbath lineup for the evening consisted of several young musicians with notable connections to the rock world. The band featured Tom Morello’s son, **Roman Morello**, on guitar, and **Anthrax** guitarist **Scott Ian**’s son, **Revel Ian**, on bass. They were joined by teenage Japanese drumming sensation **Yoyoka Soma** and keyboardist **Hugo Weiss**. The group opened their three-song performance with **Ozzy Osbourne**’s **"Mr. Crowley"** and the Sabbath favorite **"The Wizard"** before Butler emerged to join them for the finale.

Following the set, Butler took to social media to specifically highlight the talent of the band’s drummer. Regarding Soma's performance, he wrote:

"an amazing drummer."

— Geezer Butler

The History of Jack Sabbath

The tribute act Jack Sabbath has a history of performing at events connected to the Morello family. The group originally made its debut in **October 2023** during the **100th-birthday celebrations** for Tom Morello’s mother, **Mary Morello**. At that inaugural performance, the backing group featured Roman Morello, Yoyoka Soma, Hugo Weiss, and bassist **Roya Feiz**.

The project continued into **2025** for the **"Back To The Beginning"** farewell concert event honoring Ozzy Osbourne. For that occasion, Black and his young collaborators—including Roman Morello and Revel Ian—recreated the music video for **"Mr. Crowley"** in a pre-taped segment. This ongoing collaboration has allowed Black to frequently revisit the music that he credits with shaping his creative identity.

Jack Black’s Connection to Heavy Metal

Jack Black, widely known as one half of the rock duo **Tenacious D** alongside **Kyle Gass**, has frequently spoken about the profound impact that the Heavy Metal genre had on him during his youth. In an interview with **George Lopez**, Black detailed a pivotal moment at a record store when he was approximately ten years old:

"I went to this record store, and I was going to get the new JOURNEY album. I was ten years old or something, and there was this kid who was 14, and he said, 'No, man. You don't want that. Get this,' and he showed me Ozzy Osbourne's 'Blizzard Of Ozz'…It just changed my whole brain, the passion and the darkness and the evil of the music."

— Jack Black

This passion led to several professional connections with the members of Black Sabbath and their associates. Tenacious D’s debut album featured the song **"Dio"**, written as a tribute to **Ronnie James Dio**, who succeeded Osbourne in Black Sabbath. The duo also appeared in the music video for Dio’s track **"Push"**, and the singer later made a cameo in the film **"Tenacious D: The Pick Of Destiny"**.

In **2024**, Black was chosen to deliver the induction speech for Ozzy Osbourne’s solo entry into the **Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame**. During the ceremony, he praised the collective contribution of the original Sabbath lineup to the birth of the genre:

"This motherfucker invented heavy metal, along with Geezer Butler, Bill Ward, and the immortal Tony Iommi, the darkest, heaviest shit the world had ever heard. He invented a genre, then had the greatest second-act comeback in rock history."

— Jack Black