One Tribe Nation, featuring Living Colour vocalist Corey Glover, celebrates the release of their latest single with a Saturday, July 25, 2026 performance at the Den Studios in Los Angeles, California

Photo by Will Cook

Rock history is littered with the remains of many a cover song. Some wind up with staying power, some disappear. Because there’s a certain level of difficulty involved in taking a song fans know well, and expect to hear a particular way, and successfully putting a unique spin upon it.

Earlier this year, all-star collective One Tribe Nation, an eight piece ensemble incorporating everything from rock and soul to Afro-Latin rhythms, reinterpreted Black Sabbath’s “The Wizard,” paying homage to the legacy of Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne on stage as part of the David Z Foundation’s annual JAMM Night fundraiser.

The brainchild of founding guitarist and musical director Michael Sanders, One Tribe Nation has cooked up a musical stew that reflects the diversity of Los Angeles, California for over two decades. But “The Wizard” is the group’s first song to feature Living Colour frontman Corey Glover on lead vocals.

Now available for online streaming and viewing ahead of their next performance on Saturday, July 25, part of “The Bluesadelic Sessions” at the Den Studios in L.A., the scorching new live cut marks the group’s latest single (ahead of the release of the full length studio album Estado Dorado later this year).

“It’s funny. A really good friend of mine, who’s actually my stylist, recommended me to Michael Sanders. And we hit it off immediately,” said Glover during a recent video call. “It’s gonna be fun,” he continued, looking ahead to One Tribe Nation’s July 25 performance. “It’s going to be a jam more than anything else. And that’s what I look forward to it being: having the ability to let the songs sort of show themselves and expose new parts as it works its way down from the first note to the last.”

I spoke with Corey Glover about working as a full creative partner with One Tribe Nation, the influence of Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath, the forthcoming album Estado Dorado and working with the David Z Foundation to promote the value of music education. A transcript of our conversation, lightly edited for length and clarity, follows below…

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 12: Corey Glover speaks onstage during the 2025 Songwriters Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony at Marriott Marquis Times Square on June 12, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Songwriters Hall Of Fame)

Getty Images for Songwriters Hall Of Fame

Jim Ryan: How did you and Michael Sanders kind of wind up on one another’s radar?

Corey Glover: It’s funny. A really good friend of mine, who's actually my stylist, recommended me to Michael. And we hit it off immediately. It went on from there and the rest, as they say, is history.

Ryan: How did you guys choose "The Wizard" for your David Z Foundation performance? Why that particular Sabbath song?

Glover: It’s a great song! It's a really, really good song. I love that song. I can't sing it very well - but I like that song. I tried.

Ryan: Obviously, there’s a lot going on within the One Tribe Nation stew. But that’s always been one of my favorite elements of Black Sabbath too (and one that I feel tends to get overlooked). Yes, there’s obviously the rock and metal - but there's jazz in there too. In “The Wizard,” there's that ripping, bluesy harmonica part. How did you guys kind of come at that song as a collective?

Glover: Like you, everyone feels like that that’s an uncut gem of a Sabbath song. And something that people should hear. Ozzy's performance in it is incredible. So, with the amount of people that are in this band, and the diverse sort of ways in which they play and what they play, this sort of fit perfectly.

Ryan: Was Black Sabbath, or Ozzy, kind of an early influence for you?

Glover: Absolutely. I mean, as a lead singer in a band, he sort of embodied what that had to be and what that had to look like and what that had to sound like. And it was just amazing to hear. And the band itself was so incredible. That was sort of like the cherry on top.

Ryan: I know there’s some other reinterpretations on the forthcoming album. How do you take these songs – often songs people expect to hear a certain way - and make them your own? How do you put a unique spin on them?

Glover: Well, I can only do what I know how to do. And, like I said, with that particular song, it’s hard to really do it as well as Ozzy did. But I tried. And if I can throw in my own sort of thing, I try to do that too.

Ryan: I know there are going to be other reinterpretations on the album. Is there one you're particularly excited about?

Glover: Oh, I love the Rare Earth tune. “I Just Want to Celebrate.” I'm really digging that. It’s a Motown song. So, I really enjoy doing that. And it says a lot. It brings a lot to the table and it's so musically dense.

It’s a simple song - but it's not simple at all.

One Tribe Nation, featuring Living Colour vocalist Corey Glover, work in the studio ahead of the release of the forthcoming album 'Estado Dorado'

Photo by Will Cook

Ryan: I know there will be some original material on the record as well. You've never shied away from making social commentaries in your music. Obviously, there’s a lot going on in the world these days. Did that kind of seep into the songwriting process this time around?

Glover: Sometimes. There’s one song that Michael Sanders and I, and my other writing partner Michael Ciro, wrote together that was really interesting. We had a good time doing that. I just plug along as best as I possibly can for as long as I possibly can.

Ryan: I’ve found myself saying a lot over the course of the last year or so, “Where are the songs?” I grew up with punk going after Reagan and then worked backwards to the folk tradition. But I grew up under that impression that music and artists should speak to what's happening in the world. What’s your take on that?

Glover: Well, that’s who you are. That’s the job. You are the teller of tales (and the tale of the world that you live in at that particular point in time). And that's the only position that you have to be true to. Love and moon and June and all that stuff is great. But gas prices are ridiculous.

One Tribe Nation, featuring vocalist Corey Glover of Living Colour, is scheduled to perform as part of 'The Bluesadelic Sessions' on Saturday, July 25, 2026 at the Den Studios in Los Angeles, California

Courtesy of The Den Studios

Ryan: I know it’s a balance. But was there anyone you had in mind in terms of artists who do a good job of of approaching what’s going on in the world musically?

Glover: Well, it’s always the hardcore stuff. I am a devotee of Bad Brains. The MC5 always give me a thrill. Any of that kind of stuff. Anything that's loud and raucous and screaming what they're talking about always works for me.

Ryan: Well, the next show is coming up on Saturday, July 25 at Den Studios in Los Angeles. What can fans expect when One Tribe Nation takes the stage?

Glover: It’s gonna be fun. It’s going to be a jam more than anything else. And that’s what I look forward to it being: having the ability to let the songs sort of show themselves and expose new parts as it works its way down from the first note to the last.

Ryan: Whether it’s on stage or in the studio, have you guys tried a Living Colour song?

Glover: I think they're gonna try to do “Love Rears its Ugly Head.” You know, I personally - this is a known secret - but I dislike playing “Cult of Personality” outside of Living Colour. That's the only place I really feel comfortable doing it.

Ryan: When you take a Living Colour track though, and you start dreaming up a new approach to it with a new ensemble, how does that process kind of play out for you?

Glover: Well, what you're trying to find is the groove, you know? That riff is ever-present. But to find a way for the rhythm section to really sort of dig into that is really, really important.

I have some friends of mine who love playing the riff. It's like, yeah - but there's a groove in the verses. There's a groove in the bridge. You really have to dig into that. It sort of rides that groove to the very end. And you can't deny that.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - APRIL 18: Corey Glover of Living Colour performs at the Fremont Street Experience on April 18, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

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Ryan: I was lucky to have music in the classroom at a young age. I didn’t know how lucky I was to have that. But it’s frequently one of the first cuts we see made to the public school curriculum today. You’ve done these vocal clinics and worked with the David Z Foundation multiple times. Is music education, or music in the classroom, something that you're a proponent of? Is it important to you?

Glover: Absolutely. I have a curriculum that I do where the idea of what you do musically in any capacity, whether you’re playing the recorder or you're a timpani player, those are all the things you need for an education. Reading, writing and arithmetic, and social studies, are all there in the music that you play.

If you’re writing new music, or if you’re playing a particular song, it speaks to a time. It speaks to a place. It speaks to a frame of mind. Not only are you learning math but you’re learning what a beat is and how to subdivide a beat. There’s the prose from the lyrics that are sometimes the most brilliant things you'll ever hear in your life.

And to understand it, and to comprehend that kind of thing, is a good way to keep your mind open to learning new things and working new things into your sphere.

The whole world opens up with that.