Music10 unforgettable covers by Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne

When helping to introduce the Black Sabbath node Rock and Roll Hall of Famethe drummer of Metallic, Lars Ulrichreflected: “On any day, the genre Heavy Metal could very well be subtitled as’ music derived from Black Sabbath‘”But the scope of the influence of Sabbath and from Ozzy Osbourne It goes far beyond, echoing in cover versions of their reinterpreted songs such as Soul, Swedish Pop Rock and Industrial Metal. Here are 10 of the best and most surprising versions of songs originally sung by Prince of Darkness.

Buttlele Surfers, ‘Sweat Loaf’

1987

The music “Sweat Loaf”from the texan band Buttlele Surferslaunched in 1987, is almost a cover of “Sweet Leaf”from Black Sabbath – But only almost. The guitarist Paul Leary transforms the original riff into something more acute and nervous, while drummers King Coffey and Tersa Taylor punch the drums hard, and the vocalist Gibby Haynes Fully ignores the original lyrics to scream … something strange, buried in the chaotic sound mist. Still, the relatively sticky melody makes the track the ideal “gateway” for the psychedelic and noisy sound of Surfers – A sound that, in the alternative rock circles of the 1980s, was almost as influential as the Sabbath It went to the metal. As Haynes Says in the iconic spoken introduction: “By the way, if you see your mother this weekend, don’t forget to tell her… Satan! Satan! Satan !!!!” – Joe Gross

Sir Mix-A-LOT, ‘Iron Man’

1988

Years before the Public enemy join Anthrax, Sir mix-a-lot Collaborated with the noisy band Metal Churchalso from Seattle, on his debut album Swass1988, in a rap-rock rereading of “Iron Man”eternal classic of Black Sabbath. THE Bumpasaurus It brings the sci-fi themes of the song back to the reality of the streets-“I have childhood scars and the streets are my life / The girls laughed, now begging to be the wife of Mix-a-lot”But the heavy and striking riff of Tony Iommi remains practically intact. “‘King of Rock’from Run-DMCIt was a milestone, but I wanted to do something heavier, metal. I love heavy metal, real heavy sound, ”he said Mix to the Onion Av Club. “I am the guy you see in Ozzfest”. – Christopher R Weingarten

1000 Homo DJs, ‘SuperNaut’

1990

If there is one thing that Al jourgensenof the industrial rock icons MinistryI liked as much as partying was to create parallel projects with weird names. One of these projects yielded some killer tracks – and no more powerful than their version to “SuperNaut”classic Vol. 4 of Sabbath. Riding battery, samples and distorted guitar soils make everything even more explosive. Jourgensen eventually assumed the vocals of the official version, but for reasons of label, the recording with Trent Reznorfrom NINE INH NAILSshe was shelved for years. Both versions remain accurate hymns for any gothic clue.

Motörhead, ‘Hellraiser’

1992

Among metal fans, it is well known that Lemmyvocalist of Motörheadand Ozzy Osbourne They were great friends. In an edition of SXSW in 2001, Sharon Osbourne commented that the two – both aficionados by history – loved spending hours watching documentaries about World War II together, at the house of Osbourne. This song was composed by them in partnership with the guitarist of Ozzy, Zakk Wylde. The version of Ozzy (released on the album At More Tears1991) is one of those to raise the fist in the air, but the record of the Motörheadlaunched in 1992, it sounds even heavier – with the bass of Lemmy swinging like a demolition ball. Not by chance, the track entered the soundtrack of HELLISER III: HELL ON EARTH.

Pantera, ‘Planet Caravan’

1994

When the album FAR BEYOND DRIVENfrom PantherIt was released in 1994, he became the heaviest album to reach first place on the charts so far. You Cowboys from hellas they were known, they were declared fans of the MASTERS OF REALITY – So much that they recorded powerful versions of “Electric Funeral” and “Hole in the Sky” of Black Sabbath at different times in the career. Although, Driven ends with a version of “Planet Caravan”1970, touched with acoustic guitar and Congas – a psychedelic journey wrapped in a dark aura, which refers to the hippies of the hippies of Sabbath As for the unplugged grunge of the time. The bassist of Panther, Rex Brownpoints out the first passionate outlet of the guitarist Dimebag Darrell Like your band’s favorite guitar solo.

The Cardigans, ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’

1994

Leaving Jönköping in Sweden in the early 1990s, the Cardigans It was a charming indie pop band that surprised the cute and dancing hit “Lovefool”. On paper, they were a thousand leagues of the Black Sabbath. In fact, the band’s main members began playing heavy metal and paid tribute to the founding group of the genre with its Lounge-Pop version full of affection to “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath”on the debut album Emmerdale1994. Two years later, they showed how much they loved Ozzy when they do “Iron Man” on your prominent album First Band on the Moonthe same album that brought “Lovefool”.

Metallica, ‘Sabra Cadabra’

1998

When the most famous metal band ever released a covers album in 1998, it could not resist paying tribute to the guys that started everything. The vocalist James Hetfield He always loved the riff of the 1973 album, and the band played the music in the lean and groove style that adopted in the late 1990s, still adding a little of the other classic track of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, “The National Acrobat”. When introducing the Sabbath node Rock and Roll Hall of Fame In 2006, James Hetfield He remembered when he discovered the still shy band at the age of nine. “Those monstrous riffs lived inside me and expressed feelings that I could never put into words, sending inspiration goose -ups – those dark letters, the rebel chords. They helped break the shell in which I was stuck.” – CW

System of a Down, ‘SnowBlind’

2000

The winding track and marked by the use of cocaine from the album Vol. 4 1972 has always been a favorite, having already been rewritten by Converge and Jason Molina. But the most unexpected version is that of system of a Downwhich transforms the intense electric shocks of the original into a slow and almost unrecognizable burning. The dry and almost scary interpretation of Serj It works so well because it sounds like a lunatic that, during a spree that keeps him awake for days, vents silently. This unusual approach apparently won Ozzy and company: they asked the SOAD Play this version before them at an opening show in Birmingham. – Julyssa Lopez

Charles Bradley, ‘Changes’

2016

The ballad to the piano “Changes” It is a remarkable moment of vulnerability amid the suffocating density of tracks such as “Snowblind” and “SuperNaut” on the album Vol. 4 from 1972. It’s the kind of music that leaves a deep emotional brand, as Brooklyn’s Soul singer showed Charles Bradley by rewriting it on its third album, Changes. Bradley was in the house of sixty years, was a fan of the classic sound of Stax Recordswith a style that remembered Otis Reddingand delivered a deep and intense interpretation of “Changes”turning a song about loving abandonment in a tribute to his deceased mother. – JD

T-Pain, ‘War Pigs’

2023

The resounding anti-war anthem of the Black Sabbath 1970 is one of the band’s most beloved songs – it has been rewritten by artists like Judas Priest, Faith no More, Gov’t mule and many others. But magic really happens when the music goes from Ozzy Balancing hair on the stage of Paris from the 1970s to the singer and rapper T-Pain performing live at a West Hollywood club in 2023. It is so good that, in fact, the Prince of Darkness called this version “the best cover of ‘WAR PIGS’ of all time ”. – Charisma Madarang

This article was originally published by Rolling Stone USA, collaborators Jon Dolan, Joe Gross, Julyssa Lopez, Charisma Madarang and Christopher R. Weingarten on July 23, 2025, and can be seen here.