Tenacious D is<!--Do not change to "was" — no sources have reported that the band has disbanded or broken up--> an American comedy rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1994 by Jack Black and Kyle Gass.
The band started performing on the Los Angeles music scene, eventually befriending David Cross who invited them to open for the live version of Mr. Show on HBO. This led the band to have their own variety television series on HBO, produced by Cross and Bob Odenkirk. Towards the end of the 1990s, the duo supported large rock acts such as Tool, Pearl Jam and Beck. The band also befriended Dave Grohl, later appearing in Foo Fighters' "Learn to Fly" music video.
In 2000, they signed with Epic Records and the year after they released Tenacious D', their debut album featuring a full band that included Grohl on drums. Their second single, "Tribute", achieved cult status, contributing to their popularity in the UK, Sweden and Australia. In 2003, the band released The Complete Master Works, a live concert DVD, later certified platinum. In 2006, the duo starred in their own motion-picture, Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, and released the soundtrack as their second album, The Pick of Destiny. The film was a box office failure and received mixed reviews, but its supporting tour was successful with performances at major arenas, such as Madison Square Garden.
Following years of sporadic festival dates and special appearances, the band released their third album, Rize of the Fenix, in 2012, making light of The Pick of Destiny's commercial failure. In 2013, Tenacious D hosted the comedy music festival Festival Supreme in LA, which would host three more additions. In 2014, the band featured on Ronnie James Dio – This Is Your Life, a compilation album to raise funds for cancer awareness. Their cover of "The Last in Line" won the Grammy Award for best heavy metal performance at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. In 2018, the band began independently releasing an animated hand-drawn web series, Tenacious D in Post-Apocalypto, and released the soundtrack as their fourth album Post-Apocalypto. In July 2024, the band cancelled the remainder of their tour and put all creative work on hold following backlash from a controversial improvised joke from Gass about the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Pennsylvania during a show in Sydney, Australia.
The music of Tenacious D showcases Black's theatrical vocal delivery and Gass's acoustic guitar playing. Their songs discuss the duo's purported musical and sexual prowess, their friendship and cannabis usage, in a style critics have compared with the storyteller-style lyrics of rock opera.
History
Formation and early years
Jack Black and Kyle Gass met in Los Angeles in 1986 as members of the Actors' Gang theater troupe. They were initially not friendly, as Gass was the main musician for the Actor's Gang and "felt threatened" by Black. The Actor's Gang travelled to Scotland for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1989 to perform Tim Robbins' and Adam Simon's play Carnage. The two became friends during the trip and climbed Arthur's Seat on a day off. Following the trip, Black and Gass bonded over music. Black did not learn guitar until he was around 23, so would regularly visit Gass' Cochran Avenue studio apartment in the deal that Gass would teach Black to play guitar in return for food, mainly from fast-food chain Jack in the Box. They worked together professionally at the Actor's Gang and collaborated in productions.
Black and Gass eventually wrote their first song after Black was dumped by a girlfriend, a non-comedic song. They later said they felt embarrassed about the song, though they occasionally sing it during interviews when telling their story. Their second song came about when Black was listening to the Metallica song "One" and told Gass that it was "the best song in the world". Gass told Black that they could not write the best song in the world, but Black put a twist on it and said they could "write a tribute". Gass played an A-minor chord on his guitar at the apartment and the two spent three days crafting the song. When it was done, Gass said they "knew they had something". The song made the duo realize their comedic potential. The duo briefly called themselves Responsive Chord while rehearsing the comedy act.
Rise to popularity
The band's first on-stage appearance was at Highland Grounds in Los Angeles, a coffee shop, where they performed as The Axe Lords Featuring Gorgazon's Mischief, though the production was technically part of a variety event for the Actor's Gang.
The band's first performance at an actual music event was a short appearance at Al's Bar in 1994, opening for The Abe Lincoln Story. They performed "Tribute", still their only song at the time, and asked the audience to vote for their name.
Tenacious D continued to generate momentum on the Los Angeles music scene, notably performing headline shows at Al's Bar, Pedro's, Largo and The Actors' Gang studio. Maynard James Keenan, lead vocalist of the band Tool, had also met Cross on the Los Angeles scene, and therefore had also become involved in Mr. Show. Keenan invited Black and Gass to support three Californian Tool concerts in December 1995. Tool was the first large act that Tenacious D were a support act for. Black had previously attended UCLA with director Jason Bloom; therefore, when Bloom was made the director of 1996's Bio-Dome, Black and Gass were invited to perform a short song in the film. The two wrote the song "5 Needs", and this was their first on-screen appearance as Tenacious D.
In 1997, Tenacious D had become a popular act on the Los Angeles music scene and would perform residencies at The Viper Room. Pete Stahl, the vocalist of the band Scream, worked at The Viper Room at the time and became a fan of Black and Gass. Stahl invited friend Dave Grohl to come and visit The Viper Room to see Tenacious D, though Grohl initially did not want to go. Grohl changed his stance and went to see the band perform a couple of weeks later and thoroughly enjoyed it. This would start a relationship between Grohl, Black and Gass.
Tenacious D recorded their songs "Tribute", "Kyle Quit the Band", "Krishna" and "History" and released them in a demo tape called Tenacious Demo in the late 1990s with Andrew Gross. They distributed it to various record companies until HBO offered them a TV show based on the tape and Black's work on Mr. Show.
Television series and Tenacious D (1997–2002)
Cross and his Mr. Show co-writer Bob Odenkirk continued his involvement with Tenacious D by producing three half-hour shows based on the band. The series, entitled Tenacious D, premiered on HBO in 1997, immediately following an episode of Mr. Show. were produced, only the first was aired that year; the final two episodes did not air until 2000. According to Gass, the series was cancelled after HBO requested ten episodes with the stipulation that he and Black would have to relinquish their role as executive producers, and only write songs.
After the series aired, the band continued to perform live. At a show at the Viper Room in Los Angeles, they met Dave Grohl, who remarked that he was impressed with their performance; this led to their cameo in the Foo Fighters' "Learn to Fly" music video. The majority of songs on the album were performed previously on their short-lived television series.
Tencious D reached No. 33 on the Billboard 200 on October 13, 2001. Although it received mixed reviews, it went on to garner acclaim and by November 2005 had been certified platinum in the US. Entertainment Weekly described it "hilarious", and "no mere comedy record". AllMusic wrote that it "rocks so damn hard", but lamented the absence of some of the songs from the television show. Flak Magazine criticised the skits between songs, describing them as "distracting" and a "nuisance".The Independent found the album was full of "swearing and scatology" and was "bereft of even the slightest skidmark of humor".
The first single, "Tribute", is a tribute to the "greatest song in the world", which Tenacious D claim they performed to save their souls from a demon. The music video, directed by Liam Lynch, This was followed by the second single, "Wonderboy", with a video directed by Spike Jonze. A third video, an animation depicting Black and Gass as cherubs, was made for "Fuck Her Gently", directed by the Ren and Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi. Dio liked the song enough to ask the band to appear in the music video for his song, "Push". An EP entitled D Fun Pak was released in 2002. It featured a skit and acoustic versions of "Jesus Ranch" and "Kyle Quit The Band", as well as a megamix by Mocean Worker. The Complete Master Works, a music DVD featuring the entire run of their TV series, music videos, and a live performance from London's Brixton Academy recorded in 2002, was released on November 9, 2003.
Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny and the album (2003–2007)
Black and Gass had dreamt of producing a Tenacious D motion-picture since forming the band; archived footage of banter at an early Tenacious D show records Black as saying "a movie - that would be the pinnacle".
The duo conceptualized numerous ideas for a film, though the first actual known draft of a script was published on November 7, 2000. The script was based on many songs that would later be released on the duo's eponymous debut album that would be released the following year. There is little known about the script, other than it being based around the band playing coffee shops and Black becoming fascinated by Atlantis. Black and Gass both fall in love with a girl called Simmeon who has written books about the fictional island. They later meet Ronnie James Dio, and are sent on a road trip to Miami. This concept was later scrapped.
At some point prior to 2003, the band were in negotiations with the British studio Working Title Films to write and distribute a Tenacious D film, but Black and Gass were not satisfied with the writers' ideas. In February 2003, it was announced that the band had signed with New Line Cinema to create a film, with Liam Lynch as the director, and Black, Gass and Lynch writing the script and being producers on the production. There was also speculation that Red Hour Productions would produce the film, which was later confirmed. Later in 2003, Black announced the title as Tenacious D in: The Pick of Destiny and that the script was about the band's search for a sacred guitar pick. Filming had been expected to take place by the end of 2003; however, it was delayed by almost a year due to Black being cast in Peter Jackson's big budget remake of King Kong. In December 2004, Black and Gass performed some songs from the upcoming soundtrack of the film whilst touring Australia, and announced that the film would include cameos from Meat Loaf and Ronnie James Dio.
Principal photography for Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny commenced in 2005, with the production finishing later that year. The film held its first test screening to the press in October 2005. The film held two re-shoots in 2006 and according to Lynch, every crew member from the principal photography came back because they "had such a fun time working on set". Black also stated that the filming on this production was "the most fun I've ever had filming a movie".
The film held its British premiere on November 1, 2006, at the Vue West End cinema in London, England. The film's domestic premiere was held at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on November 9, 2006. Many of the actors who had cameos in the film were in attendance; including Ronnie James Dio, Dave Grohl, and Ben Stiller.
The film was released worldwide on November 22. Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny grossed US$8,334,575 in the US and Canada and a total of US$13,426,450 worldwide, falling well short of its US$20 million production budget and US$40 million in estimated marketing costs. Financially, it is regarded as a box-office bomb. The soundtrack reached No. 8 on the Billboard 200 in the US as well as topping the iTunes chart, and #10 in the UK. The film was released globally on DVD on February 27, 2007. In an interview on the Daily Show on November 30, 2006, Black admitted the film had "bombed", but said that DVD sales had shown that the film picked up a cult audience. Stephen Rae of The Philadelphia Inquirer said that the frequent drug-use in the film gives "the term potty humor a new meaning." Michael Phillips criticized the frequency of the drug-use by saying: "This may be the problem. Pot rarely helped anybody's comic timing." Stephen Holden of The New York Times suggested that the film could be viewed as a "jolly rock 'n' roll comedy", but he also described the progression of the film as being a "garish mess."
The soundtrack received less favourable reviews than for the band's first album. Rolling Stone comments that the soundtrack "never quite takes off". It criticises the reliance the album makes on a knowledge of the film, and some songs' existence only to "advance the plot". Blender continues the criticism of the songs being plot devices calling them "plot-nudging song-sketches". The Guardian views the album more positively, describing the album as a meeting of "old school riffology" and "schoolboy humour".
right|thumbnail|300px|Black, Gass, Konesky, Spiker, and Wackerman
To coincide with the release of their new film and album, Tenacious D embarked on The Pick of Destiny Tour, of the US, Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand. This tour included the band's first appearance at New York City's Madison Square Garden. Unlike other tours, this one featured a full backing band. Each member used a pseudonym; Konesky as the Antichrist, Spiker as Charlie Chaplin, and Wackerman as Colonel Sanders. Black has said that the band lost money on the tour due to the cost of touring with a full band for the first time.
Rize of the Fenix (2008–2012)
right|thumbnail|300px|Tenacious D performing at the Leeds festival
In November 2006, Black expressed wishes to take a year-long break from acting, though Gass hinted a desire for Tenacious D to end at their current highpoint. However, Black confirmed that a third album would be recorded by announcing that a new song has been written for it entitled "Deth Star". He said that the album would likely be released in 2010, but on other occasions had mentioned the year 2012. In early 2008, Black announced that the band was working on a new album, and a DVD titled The Complete Master Works 2. The DVD was released later that year, and included a documentary of their world tour entitled D Tour: A Tenacious Documentary. The film focuses on the tour Tenacious D made in support of the film and soundtrack and the consequences of their film's poor showing at the box office. Kyle has commented that the new album only has "one to one and a half" songs written for it, and would like to write between twelve and fifteen.
Music magazine Billboard quoted Black as revealing that "We just laid down a hot [...] we're calling it the bomb track. It's a very powerful recording called "Deth Starr" [...] so it has nothing to do with the Star Wars <nowiki>[</nowiki>Death Star<nowiki>]</nowiki>," adding that "It's kind of sci-fi, doomsday rock." Jack Black also stated on the Late Show with David Letterman that he had an idea for a song called "Rize of the Fenix", which he described as a "rise from the ashes" workout song similar to "Eye of the Tiger". He performed a vocal sample of the song along with keyboards.
Gass hinted that the band's third album might be called Tenacious D 3-D, reasoning that "It's the third record, so it should probably be 'Tenacious 3-D.' There's going to be a '3' and a 'D,' so you have to connect them." Dave Grohl has confirmed that he will appear as the drummer on the album, after performing on both Tenacious D and The Pick of Destiny. In an interview with Spinner.com in December 2010, Black revealed that the band was "about halfway through the writing process" for its new album, telling fans to expect the release of new material "at the end of 2011". In terms of lyrical themes for the new songs, Black noted that "We're gonna be talking about love, there are gonna be some songs about sex and there's gonna be songs about food". Also in the same interview, he named another song called "Señorita". In February 2012 it was revealed that the title of the album would in fact be spelled Rize of the Fenix and would be released on May 15, 2012.
On March 26, 2012, a 6-minute film was uploaded to the Tenacious D channel on YouTube. The mockumentary, titled 'Tenacious D - To Be the Best', documents the uncertain future Tenacious D faced after the box-office failure of The Pick of Destiny, KG's subsequent breakdown and incarceration in "an institution", and Jack's embracing of an indulgent Hollywood lifestyle. The film shows a deranged Kyle escaping the facility and attempting to kill Jack and then himself, before they each realize their importance to each other and revive the band. They produce a new album in 75 minutes in the studio, described as "awful", but try again and emerge with another new album, described at the end of the film as "the greatest album recorded by anyone, ever". The film features numerous cameo appearances, including Maria Menounos, Val Kilmer, Dave Grohl, Yoshiki, Josh Groban, Richard Ghagan, Mike White, Tim Robbins and Jimmy Kimmel.
The band released the album on April 28, 2012, in its entirety on their SoundCloud account. Rize of the Fenix was officially released on May 15, 2012, with mostly positive reviews from music critics.
Post-Apocalypto (2012–2022)
thumb|Tenacious D performing at [[Rock am Ring and Rock im Park|Rock am Ring 2016]]
In June 2012, when asked about a sequel to Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, Black stated that the band had "found a loophole with the internet and animated shorts. That's the world we’re looking to dive into, and not just for money, mainly for art." The band would mention later on in that year that they may make an Internet series "exclusive to YouTube." The project was a fantasy for Black and Gass for a few years, until the Donald Trump presidential campaign inspired them to write a post-apocalyptic comedy in 2016.
In 2018, before performing at Hell & Heaven Metal Fest in Mexico City, the band entered the stage to a short studio snippet of their new song "Post-Apocalypto Theme". The night after this, Black asked the audience at Shaky Knees Music Festival in Atlanta, Georgia whether they had seen The Pick of Destiny and that "part 2 is coming out in October". He went to state that "I don't know where you will be able to see it, but we have decided it's happening and it's coming out. Rocktober". Tenacious D in Post-Apocalypto was released as six individual episodes on YouTube uploaded from September 28 to November 2, with Columbia Records releasing Post-Apocalypto on the last day.
At a live screening of the series at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in New York, Black stated that the two would attempt to speed up their album cycle, jokingly commenting about the duo's age if the current speed continues and their record obligation with Sony. Black stated that the fifth album will take time, and "most likely be released [sometime] after 2020".
On November 29, 2019, for Record Store Day's Black Friday, Tenacious D released a 'Blue Series' 7" Single, featuring the track "Don't Blow It, Kage". The record was produced by Jack White. On October 27, 2020, Tenacious D released a cover of 'Time Warp', available to stream online and also released on 7" vinyl. The song included a music video featuring a string of celebrity guests. The single was used to promote Rock the Vote, which encourages Americans to vote in the 2020 Presidential Election. All proceeds from the vinyl sales of the song were donated to Rock the Vote.
On July 1, 2021, Tenacious D released a tribute to the Beatles in which they cover and mashup two songs from Abbey Road: "You Never Give Me Your Money" and "The End." Similar to "Time Warp", the limited-edition 7" supported charitythis time with all the proceeds going to Doctors Without Borders. In an interview with Variety published in September 2021, Black stated that the band was working on their next album, claiming it is "a very big idea that we've been working on for years". Black predicted the album will be released in 2024. On December 7, 2021, Tenacious D announced a 2022 tour of the United States. This tour was a belated 20th anniversary celebration of their debut album. In March 2022, the tour was extended.
Spicy Meatball Tour, Trump comment and hiatus (2023–2026)
On May 6, 2023, the duo began the Spicy Meatball Tour by debuting a new song, "Video Games", at Shaky Knees Music Festival. "Video Games" premiered online on May 11, via a 3D animated music video directed by Adam Paloian and his production company Pinreel Inc., which was the band's first new music video since 2012. In early June, it was announced that the tour would continue, starting with a show in Charlotte, North Carolina. In February 2024, the band announced their first tour of Australia and New Zealand in eleven years, to be held in July 2024. Later in June, the band announced a tour called 'Rock D Vote' performing in five swing states ahead of the 2024 United States elections.
On July 14, 2024, Tenacious D celebrated Gass's 64th birthday during their performance at the ICC Sydney Theater. A birthday cake was brought out and Black encouraged Gass to make a wish. Gass responded, "Don't miss Trump next time," referring to the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Pennsylvania the day before. Two days later, Black wrote on social media that he was "blindsided" by Gass's comment and that he "would never condone hate speech or encourage political violence in any form". Tenacious D canceled the rest of their world tour, and Black said their "future creative plans are on hold". Gass apologized on social media, calling his comment "highly inappropriate, dangerous and a terrible mistake", and that he did not condone violence "of any kind, in any form, against anyone", and described the shooting as a "tragedy". He was subsequently dropped by his longtime talent agent, Michael Greene. Gass deleted his apology later that week. At the premiere for the film Borderlands on August 6, Black said he and Gass remained friends and would return "when it feels right".
In February 2025, Tenacious D contributed a cover of REO Speedwagon’s "Keep On Loving You" for the compilation album Good Music To Lift Los Angeles. In August 2025, the band announced the release of their third concert DVD, The Complete Master Works 3. It was released on October 3, 2025. Gass stated in January 2026 that he and Black had "hashed things out" and returned to writing music together. Despite this, Black stated to a TMZ correspondent only a few months later that the group had "no plans".
Musical style, influences, and legacy
Tenacious D is a comedy rock band, with the majority of their songs played on acoustic guitars, and a heavy reliance on power chords. Satire and comedy are a major aspect of Tenacious D's lyrical content. Their songs evoke heavy metal clichés of bands like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. In particular, the song "Dio" pokes fun at the idea of a torch being passed. Songs like "Friendship" parody the lack of real friendship, as well as point out the [bromance] traits in rock groups with the lyric "As long as there's a record deal, we'll always be friends". Their short song structures have been described as punk rock-inspired. Tenacious D also employs the technique of deliberate backmasking on "Karate", a technique employed by other metal bands like Slayer, who recorded a message in Hell Awaits.
Black has said that the first song he enjoyed was ABBA's "Take a Chance on Me". His style was distinctly shaped by "big dinosaurs of rock" such as the Who and Led Zeppelin. leading to an attempt to write an even better song, themselves.