Kerry King says that it's an honour for Slayer to be able to be a part of Black Sabbath's farewell show, and he's already picked the Sabbath song that the Los Angeles thrash kings will cover in Birmingham on July 5.
Speaking about Slayer's participation in the Back To The Beginning show with Rolling Stone Brasil, as transcribed by Blabbermouth, the 60-year-old guitarist says, "It's such an honour to even be thought of to play that, and I'm glad we were actually in the 'working mode' so we can get that offer. It's gonna be awesome."
Though the exact format of the spectacular gig, which features a who's who of hard rock and heavy metal - Metallica, Pantera, Anthrax, Guns N' Roses, Tool, Gojira, Mastodon and more - paying tribute to both Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne, has yet to be revealed, it seems that every artist on the bill will cover a classic song by the Godfathers of Metal.
"I drug my feet and picked our song really late, when there weren't as many obvious choices," says King. "But the one I picked is gonna work out really cool. I worked it out with my [solo] band, so me and Paul [Bostaph, Slayer and Kerry King drummer] could rehearse it. So we've already got it. We've just gotta get [Slayer vocalist/bassist] Tom [Araya] and Gary [Holt] on board whenever - probably in June we will rehearse for that. It's gonna be killer. What we're doing is cool."
The Back To The Beginning, which will see the original Sabbath lineup – Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward – shared a stage for the first time since 2005, was announced in February.
As well as the aforementioned artists, the show feature performances from a ‘supergroup’ composed of Billy Corgan (The Smashing Pumpkins), Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit), Papa V Perpetua (Ghost) and many others. Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine) is acting as the event’s musical director.
"We have a very, very simple goal," Morello said earlier this year, "and that’s to make this the greatest day in the history of heavy metal. And to that end, you’ve probably seen the listed setlist. And let me tell you, there’s some huge superstars who are gonna be surprises on that day too. So, the idea is to really acknowledge the importance of that band in a way that the whole world will forever know."
Actor Jason Momoa (Aquaman, Game Of Thrones) will compere the mega-gig.
