Jack Black reveals what 'Tenacious D' means and where he got the band name from while 'high with Kyle Gass'
Topics: Celebrity, Jack Black, Music, US News, Entertainment
Ellie Kemp
Featured Image Credit: Jeff Hahne/Getty Images
Topics: Celebrity, Jack Black, Music, US News, Entertainment
If you've ever been curious as to how rock duo Tenacious D got their name, then prepare to be enlightened.
School of Rock legend Jack Black and musician Kyle Gass formed the duo in 1994 - and the rest is history...
Their world tour was dramatically canceled last year when Gass made an ill-judged jibe about Donald Trump's assassination attempt while on stage in Sydney, Australia.
With future 'creative projects' put on hold, Black reassured fans the duo would reunite 'when it feels right'.
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More than six months on, Gass appears to be taking matters into his own hands, having announced a 14-date European tour this spring.
He'll be joined by guitarist John Konesky and vocalist Mike Bray - so no sign of a Tenacious D reunion just yet.
Anyway, if you reckon you already know the origin of the duo's moniker, then think again.
Despite what their 2006 movie Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny claims, sadly, the duo weren't born with matching butt cheek birthmarks, forming their iconic name. I hate to be a killjoy...
However, I'm sure fans won't be fazed to know the rock-n-roll duo came up with the name Tenacious D while 'really stoned'.
A few years back, Black sat down with US sports journalist Bill Simmons on his Grantland show and told him how the name Tenacious D was actually conceived.
He said: "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?'"
He continued: "And for some reason we were laughing so hard at the idea of a band being called Tenacious D.
"[Commentator Marv Albert] would say 'playing some tenacious defense', 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."
So, the name actually means tenacious defense - with tenacious meaning 'to keep a firm hold of something', of course.
In fact, the band let the audience of their first ever live show pick their name - kind of.
As an opening act at Al's Bar, Los Angeles in 1994, Black and Gass gave concert-goers the options of: Tenacious D, Pets or Meat, Balboa's Biblical Theater, or the Axe Lords Featuring Gorgazon's Mischief.
While Tenacious D never won the public vote, Black reportedly admitted to 'pushing it through' anyway.
If Gass' favorite had been picked, the band would be known as Axe Lords Featuring Gorgazon's Mischief.
Doesn't quite have the same ring as Tencious D, though, does it?