Did Guns N’ Roses Just Drop a Major Hint Ahead of Their Black Sabbath Farewell Performance?

With their eponymous 1970 debut, Black Sabbath revolutionized music and inspired a long line of bands including Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, and more. Tomorrow (Saturday, July 5), the original lineup of Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Ozzy Osbourne, and Bill Ward will reunite onstage one final time in their hometown of Birmingham, England. In addition to performances from the legends themselves, artists like Metallica, Slayer and Tool will pay homage to the heavy metal pioneers. And it appears Guns N’ Roses may have just dropped a massive clue about their performance.

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Guns N’ Roses Rehearses Ahead of Black Sabbath Farewell Concert

According to a Wednesday (July 2) post from SFP magazine on Facebook, Guns N’ Roses will perform Black Sabbath’s 1973 song “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” during tomorrow’s concert. A video shows Axl Rose, Slash, and Co. rehearsing the song at soundcheck.

The opening title track from the band’s fifth studio album, Tony Iommi has declared “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” as “the riff that saved Black Sabbath.” Apparently, the legendary guitarist had been in a bit of a creative slump before writing the legendary riff in the dungeons of Clearwell Castle in the Forest of Dean.

Appropriately, bassist Geezer Butler has described this moment as “almost like seeing your first child being born.”

“It was the end of our musical drought, the beginning of our new direction, an affirmation of life,” Butler said in 2004. “It meant the band had a present – and a future – again.”

[RELATED: Tony Iommi Is “Nervous” Ahead of Black Sabbath’s Sendoff Gig in Villa Park: “People Are Coming From All Over the World”]

It’s Slash’s Favorite, Too

Guns N’ Roses lead guitarist Slash has spoken openly of Black Sabbath’s influence on his music career. And the legendary musician, 59, revealed in a 2022 Guitar World interview that Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is among his favorites.

“The title track, that breakdown towards the end of the song. There’s just nothing that’s ever come out that’s heavier than that,” he said. “Not one band that I can think of has a riff that is as heavy as Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.”

We’ll see tomorrow if Slash can successfully replicate that groundbreaking riff.

Featured image by Harry Durrant/Getty Images