American comedy-rock duo Tenacious D have made global headlines this week after sensationally cancelling the rest of their sold out Australian and New Zealand Spicy Meatball Tour dates following some offhand remarks made on stage by Kyle Gass at the band’s Sydney show on July 14th.
The band were midway through the show when Black suggested Gass make a wish for his birthday. “Don’t miss Trump next time,” Gass responded, appearing to refer to the attempted assassination of the former US president the day before.
Both Black and Gass have long been critical of Trump, but Black seemed to realise the joke had crossed a line. “I would never condone hate speech or encourage political violence in any form,” he later said in a statement posted to social media, claiming to have been “blindsided” by the comment and adding that “all future creative plans are on hold.”
For his part, Gass also released an apology: “The line I improvised Sunday night in Sydney was highly inappropriate, dangerous and a terrible mistake. I don’t condone violence in any kind, in any form, against anyone. What happened [the shooting] was a tragedy, and I’m incredibly sorry for my severe lack of judgement.”
However, that apology appears to have been removed from Gass’ timeline grid, while Black’s remains visible.
This year marks 30 years since Tenacious D first formed — and with uncertainty surrounding the future of the band, Tone Deaf has compiled a timeline of the rise (and fall) of “The D”, as they are affectionately known.
1989: Jack Black and Kyle Gass become friends during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland as members of Los Angeles-based theatre troupe, The Actors’ Gang. The pair agree to start a band, and Gass teaches Black how to play the guitar, mainly in exchange for food from Jack in the Box.
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1994: The pair perform their first “show” under the moniker The Axe Lords Featuring Gorgazon’s Mischief for The Actors’ Gang. Their first real performance includes the live debut of “Tribute” and the debut of their new name, Tenacious D — a basketball term used by commentators to describe robust defensive positioning. David Cross is at this show — he would later cast Jack Black in his sketch comedy television series, Mr. Show, in 1995. Maynard James Keenan from Tool was also involved with Mr. Show, and invites the band to support the three Tool concerts in California that year.
1997: Cross, along with Mr. Show writer Bob Odenkirk, produces three half-hour shows about the band that form the HBO series entitled Tenacious D. Tenacious D perform a residency at The Viper Room, which Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl is invited to. Although he initially doesn’t want to go, Grohl is impressed by their performance, and this leads to their cameo in the Foo Fighters’ “Learn to Fly” music video. The band also pick up support slots for Beck and Pearl Jam.
2000: Tenacious D sign to Epic Records. Black’s Hollywood profile is increasing with roles in films like High Fidelity. The band work on their first album.
2001: The band’s self-titled debut album is released, and peaks at #33 on the Billboard 200 on October 13th, 2001. While Tenacious D usually appear as a duo, the album is backed by a full band, consisting of Grohl on drums and guitar, keyboardist Page McConnell of Phish, guitarist Warren Fitzgerald of The Vandals, and bassist Steven Shane McDonald of Redd Kross. The first single from the album is “Tribute”. A music video, directed by Liam Lynch, is shot for the song. The video is voted the fifth-best music video ever by Kerrang! readers.
2002: An EP entitled D Fun Pak is released featuring a skit and acoustic versions of “Jesus Ranch” and “Kyle Quit the Band”, as well as a megamix by Mocean Worker.
2003: Black announces that the screenplay for The Pick of Destiny – a fictional portrayal of the band’s formation – has been completed. The film was initially to be written and developed by Working Title Films, but Black and Gass decided to assume creative control when they were not satisfied with the writers’ ideas. Filming is expected to take place by the end of 2003, however is delayed by almost a year due to Black being cast in Peter Jackson’s big budget remake of King Kong.
The band start recording songs for the soundtrack of the film, their second studio album, The Pick of Destiny. The album has John Konesky and John Spiker from Trainwreck on electric guitar and bass respectively. Grohl again plays drums, and further lends vocals to “Beelzeboss (The Final Showdown)” as well as acting in the film as Satan.
2005: The album Tenacious D achieves platinum status in the United States.
2006: Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny premieres at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. Many of the actors who have cameos in the film are in attendance, including Ronnie James Dio, Grohl, and Ben Stiller. The soundtrack for The Pick of Destiny is released. The soundtrack reached #8 on the Billboard 200 in the US, and #10 in the UK. The film is released worldwide. Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny grosses $13,426,450 worldwide, falling well short of its $20 million production budget and $40 million in estimated marketing costs. Financially, it is regarded as a box office bomb, which Black admits in an interview on The Daily Show.
2008: Black announces that the band is working on a new album, and a DVD titled The Complete Masterworks Part 2. The DVD is released later that year and includes a documentary of their world tour entitled D Tour: A Tenacious Documentary, which 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.
2012: The band announce in February that their new album will be called Rize of the Fenix and will be released on May 15th. On March 26th, a star-studded 6-minute film is uploaded to the Tenacious D YouTube channel. 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 Black embracing an indulgent Hollywood lifestyle in the lead up to them recording “the greatest album recorded by anyone, ever.” The band “leaks” the album on April 28th in its entirety on their SoundCloud account before its scheduled release on May 15th.
2017: Tenacious D perform “The Government Totally Sucks” at an anti-Donald Trump Prophets of Rage show in Los Angeles.
2018: Black asks the audience at Shaky Knees Music Festival in Atlanta, Georgia whether they have seen The Pick of Destiny and says that “part 2 is coming out in October.” Tenacious D in Post-Apocalypto is released as six individual episodes on YouTube between September 28th and November 2nd, with Columbia Records releasing their fourth studio album, Post-Apocalypto, on the final day.
2019: Tenacious D release a “Blue Series” 7″ Single, featuring the track “Don’t Blow It, Kage” produced by Jack White for Record Store Day’s Black Friday.
2020: Tenacious D release a cover of ‘Time Warp’, available to stream online and as a 7″ vinyl. The song includes a music video featuring a string of celebrity cameos and is used to promote Rock the Vote, which encourages Americans to vote in the 2020 Presidential Election. All proceeds from the physical vinyl sales are donated to Rock the Vote.
2021: Tenacious D release a charity tribute to the Beatles in which they cover and mashup two songs from Abbey Road: “You Never Give Me Your Money” and “The End”/ This time, the proceeds benefit Doctors Without Borders. Black tells Variety that the band are working on their next album, claiming it is “a very big idea that we’ve been working on for years,” and predicts their next album will be released in 2024.
2023: Tenacious D begins the ‘Spicy Meatball Tour’, debuting two new original songs, “The Spicy Meatball Song” and “Video Games” at Shaky Knees Festival in the US. “Video Games” premieres online on May 11th, via a 3D animated music video directed by Adam Paloian and his production company Pinreel Inc., which is the band’s first new music video since 2012.
2024: The band announce it will be bringing the ‘Spicy Meatball Tour’ Down Under, marking their first Australian and New Zealand shows in 11 years. At the second show of the tour, Gass makes a “wish” referring to the attempted assassination of Donald Trump and, two days later, Black confirms the cancellation of the remaining shows as well as a hiatus on future creative endeavours.
