Jack Sabbath was the billing used for Jack Black’s Black Sabbath tribute group at the Power to the People festival on October 3, 2026. Although the name was new to this collaboration, Black and several of the young musicians had been performing Ozzy Osbourne’s music together since 2023. Their three-year journey reached a new stage when Black Sabbath co-founder and bassist Geezer Butler joined them for “War Pigs.”
What Is Jack Sabbath?
Jack Sabbath performed at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland, as part of Tom Morello’s Power to the People festival. The festival’s official site, Blabbermouth and Stereogum identified the lineup as:
- Jack Black — vocals
- Roman Morello — guitar
- Revel Ian — bass
- Yoyoka Soma — drums
- Hugo Weiss — keyboards
Roman Morello is Tom Morello’s son, while Revel Ian is the son of Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian. Soma and Weiss completed the young backing lineup that performed songs from Black Sabbath’s early catalog and Osbourne’s solo career.
The available evidence supports describing Jack Sabbath as the name for this 2026 tribute performance. It does not yet establish the group as a conventional band with a continuing tour, recording plans or a permanent place on the concert circuit.
That distinction matters because the musicians did not suddenly assemble for a celebrity novelty act. The Power to the People appearance followed two earlier Osbourne-related collaborations involving Black and members of the group.
The Collaboration Began With “Mr. Crowley” in 2023
The project’s earliest confirmed precursor took place in October 2023 at the 100th-birthday celebration for Mary Morello, Tom Morello’s mother.
According to reports from Louder and Loudwire, Jack Black sang “Mr. Crowley” with Roman Morello on guitar, Yoyoka Soma on drums, Hugo Weiss on keyboards and Roya Feiz on bass. It was not billed as Jack Sabbath, so applying that name retroactively would be misleading. Still, the performance established the musical core that returned in later tributes.
“Mr. Crowley” originally appeared on Osbourne’s debut solo album, Blizzard of Ozz, released in 1980. Osbourne’s official timeline and AllMusic confirm the song’s place on the album, while AllMusic and MusicBrainz credit Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Randy Rhoads and bassist Bob Daisley as its writers.
For Black and the younger players, the song became a recurring connection point. It gave them demanding material built around theatrical vocals, prominent keyboards and Rhoads’ influential guitar work. More importantly, the 2023 performance showed that the combination could function as more than a quick guest appearance.
How the Young Musicians Reunited for Ozzy Osbourne’s Farewell
The lineup evolved in 2025 when Black, Roman Morello, Yoyoka Soma and Hugo Weiss reunited for another performance of “Mr. Crowley.” Revel Ian took over the bass role previously filled by Roya Feiz.
Their prerecorded video was presented during Back to the Beginning, the July 5, 2025, concert celebrating Black Sabbath and Osbourne. Osbourne’s official video identifies the five performers, while NME and Louder reported on the tribute and its connection to the farewell event.
The performance recreated visual elements from Osbourne’s 1981 “Mr. Crowley” performance video, turning the earlier birthday collaboration into a more formal salute. It also established the five-person lineup that would later appear under the Jack Sabbath name.
The timing requires care. The Back to the Beginning tribute was presented before Osbourne’s death. His family announced through an official statement that he died on July 22, 2025, 17 days after the concert. The Associated Press independently confirmed the date. Jack Sabbath’s 2026 appearance therefore continued a tribute relationship that had begun during Osbourne’s lifetime rather than starting as a posthumous project.
When Jack Sabbath Made Its Named Debut
At its first documented performance under the Jack Sabbath name, the group played a compact three-song set that traced a path through Osbourne and Black Sabbath history.
They began with “Mr. Crowley,” returning to the song that had anchored the 2023 and 2025 collaborations. They then moved back a decade to “The Wizard,” a track from Black Sabbath’s self-titled 1970 debut.
The closing song was “War Pigs,” which opens Paranoid, also released in 1970. Geezer Butler joined the musicians for that performance, placing an original member of Black Sabbath alongside the younger players and Jack Black.
The sequence gave the short set a clear historical shape. “Mr. Crowley” represented Osbourne’s solo career and the collaborators’ own shared history. “The Wizard” reached back to Black Sabbath’s first album. “War Pigs” brought the performance to one of the band’s defining early statements—and to a musician who helped create it.
Why Geezer Butler Joining “War Pigs” Mattered
Butler’s appearance transformed the set from a tribute into a direct meeting between generations.
He was Black Sabbath’s co-founding bassist and is one of the credited writers of “War Pigs,” alongside Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Bill Ward. His presence connected the musicians performing the song in 2026 with the lineup that recorded it more than half a century earlier.
For Roman Morello, Revel Ian, Yoyoka Soma and Hugo Weiss, the moment followed an established collaboration with Black. Several had taken part in the 2023 birthday performance, and all four appeared with him in the 2025 farewell tribute. Butler was not joining an untested group assembled for a single joke. He was stepping into a collaboration with its own history.
“War Pigs” also suited the setting. The festival’s official announcement described Power to the People as a celebration of peace, justice, solidarity, music and community action, while the promoter’s event page called it nonpartisan. The festival and the Associated Press reported that a portion of proceeds from all ticket sales would benefit HeadCount and VoteRiders, organizations focused on voter participation.
Black Sabbath’s antiwar song supplied an appropriate conclusion without requiring the performers to attach a new political interpretation to it. The band’s official history describes “War Pigs” as an antiwar song, matching the festival’s emphasis on peace and civic engagement.
Will Jack Sabbath Perform Again?
As of October 4, 2026, no reviewed official announcement confirms another Jack Sabbath concert, tour or recording.
For now, Jack Sabbath is best understood as the name given to the collaboration’s first documented performance under that billing—not necessarily the launch of a permanent band. Its story begins with a birthday performance in 2023, expands through an Osbourne farewell tribute in 2025 and reaches its named debut in 2026, when Geezer Butler joined the musicians for “War Pigs.”
That progression is what made the appearance meaningful. Jack Sabbath brought Black Sabbath’s co-founding bassist together with young musicians who had already spent years carrying the music forward.
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