What D in Tenacious D means as Jack Black responds to reports of reunion
Jack Black is a man of many talents and his musical performances are often legendary.
Older generations will remember his iconic role in the School of Rock, while younger kids might know his singing voice from his role as Bowser in the Super Mario film series.
But when he's not singing about Peaches or getting to school on time, you will usually find him recording with Kyle Gass in their band Tenacious D.
The musical duo have had plenty of hits, with Tribute perhaps their best known song, although they did also record a pretty fabulous version of Britney Spears' 'Baby One More Time' for the latest instalment of Kung Fu Panda.
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Even the biggest fans of Tenacious D might not know exactly where the name first came from, but it turns out that it was actually inspired by a basketball game.
After ruling out Responsive Chord and The Axe Lords Featuring Gorgazon's Mischief, the duo finally settled on Tenacious D after hearing a basketball's description of some particularly impressive defensive play.
In a New York Times interview, Black explained: "We were deep into the Lakey lakes [LA Lakers] in the late 80s and early 90s, and we were jamming a lot at Kyle's apartment and watching basketball and jamming and getting high, and we were thinking 'what would be the best name for a band?'
"And for some reason we were laughing so hard at the idea of a band being called Tenacious D.
"[Marv Albert] would say 'playing some tenacious defence', I don't know if he ever said 'tenacious d', we might have made that abbreviation for him. I just think we were really stoned."
Despite their popularity, the band underwent an unexpected hiatus following the shocking assassination joke Kyle Gass made about Donald Trump on stage back in 2024.
It seemed unlikely that they would make a return anytime soon but Gass insisted in a recent interview with the Rolling Stone that they were close to a reunion.
He said: “We hashed it out. And it was hard. It is like a marriage. You go through these ups and downs, and try to understand your partner. We will serve no D-wine, before it’s D-time – but we will be back. We will return.”
However, it seems as if his 56-year-old bandmate is less convinced, as he was questioned by reporters about the reunion while on the street recently, and he suggested that there were 'no plans' to bring Tenacious D back right now.
While this might come as a disappointment to fans of the band, it's not the only bad news, as Black also recently revealed that he turned down a role in one of the best movies ever.
Topics: Jack Black, Super Mario, Music
James Moorhouse