Tenacious D Biography

The rock duo known as Tenacious D was formed by actor and guitarist Jack Black and vocalist Kyle Gass in Los Angeles in 1994. With a unique blend of parody and music, often referred to as “mock rock,” the duo’s live performances have become enormously popular long before their debut album, Tenacious D, was even released. 

Black and Gass originally met up in Edinburg during the Fringe Festival in 1989. Jack Black didn’t know how to play guitar at the time, but his skills as a comedic actor led to Gass’s interest in helping him learn the instrument so that the two could begin performing together. By 1997, they’d garnered the attention of the HBO network, which began producing half-hour shows centered around the band. The series ran until 2000, after which time Tenacious D began opening for a number of high-profile bands, including Foo Fighters and Pearl Jam, and signed to Epic Records.

The debut album, Tenacious D, was released in 2001 and rose into the top forty on the charts. The album reached platinum status and featured the singles “Tribute,” “Wonderboy,” “POD,” and “Dio.” The duo have also released The Pick of Destiny (2006), the soundtrack for the film of the same name, which is a mockumentary following the story of the band’s formation. The film features a number of notable performers, including Ben stiller and Dave Grohl, although upon its release it fared rather poorly at the box office. Instead, Tenacious D’s members have found a following by appearing in a number of other films together, including: The Cable Guy (1996), Bongwater (1997), Saving Silverman (2001), Shallow Hal (2001), School of Rock (2003), and Year One (2009.) These appearances are in addition to Jack Black’s roles in dozens of other films as a an actor himself. In addition, Tenacious D has performed on Late Night with Conan O’Brien and Saturday Night Live.

Most recently, Tenacious D released the album Rize of the Fenix (2012.) The duo recently played at the Rock am Ring in Germany and the Download Festival in England in 2012, and at the Grona Lund theme park in Sweden in the summer of 2013.