John Spiker

Tenacious D is 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 duo went on an indefinite hiatus as a result.

The music of Tenacious D showcases Black's theatrical vocal delivery and Gass's acoustic guitar playing. Critics have described their fusion of vulgar absurdist comedy with rock music as "mock rock". 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.

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.

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. In the audience was the actor and comedian Harry Shearer.

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. Black and Gass gave them the choice between Pets or Meat, Balboa's Biblical Theater and the Axe Lords Featuring Gorgazon's Mischief (Gass's favorite). "Tenacious D"—a basketball term used by commentators to describe robust defensive positioning in basketball — did not get the majority of votes, but according to Black "we forced it through". The venue had become a hotbed for upcoming bands, so much so that in attendance was David Cross, who invited Black and Gass to open for the live version of Mr. Show. Black was cast on Mr. Show in 1995.