Rob Halford had played with Black Sabbath before, so he was familiar with the gig. However, when Ozzy Osbourne couldn’t take the stage at Ozzfest’s stop at Camden, New Jersey, in 2004, Rob was hesitant to take over the show. Bassist Geezer Butler recalled that performance on a recent interview with 107.7 RKR’s ‘Rocker Morning Show’ where he said:
“It was great—Rob’s [Halford] from the same area as the four of us. And Tony [Iommi] actually used to manage the first version of Judas Priest. So we all knew each other from the early ’70s. And Rob knew all the lyrics to the Sabbath stuff. And when Ozzy got ill, Judas Priest were on the same bill as us, and we asked Rob if he wouldn’t mind coming on and filling in for Ozzy. He was a bit reluctant, in case he blew his voice out. But then he agreed. And it went great.”
Rob actually filled in for Ronnie James Dio back in 1992 for the last two shows in Costa Mesa, California, when he refused to play for Osbourne’s farewell shows. In an interview with Metal Hammer last fall, the rocker said:
“The phone rings, and it’s Tony. He asks if I can help, ‘Sharon wants Ozzy to come in and do some work with us in a few days, and Ronnie isn’t very pleased. He doesn’t want to do it, so we talked with him, and he’s asked if you wouldn’t mind stepping in and helping us out?’ ‘Well… yeah.’ Brummies, you know, whatever you need.”
So, Rob’s takeover in Camden over a decade later initially shocked the audience. Butler added that once Halford explained that Osbourne was dealing with bronchitis, it was a good show:
“Well, it started off not very well because everybody’s expecting Ozzy, and then there’s Rob Halford coming on. And then, after the first song, everybody accepted us. They didn’t really know what was going on. Why is Rob Halford singing with Black Sabbath instead of Ozzy? And then he explained everything after the first song. And then the audience got it. And [it was] a good gig after that.”
You can listen to Geezer Butler’s interview with 107.7 RKR’s ‘Rocker Morning Show’ below.
