Jack Black has insisted that his band Tenacious D wouldn’t exist without Rob Reiner’s rock mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap.
The 1984 comedy starred Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer as members of the fictional band Spinal Tap, who sang comedic rock songs.
During an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers on Tuesday, Black revealed that his comedy rock band Tenacious D and his 2003 movie School of Rock wouldn’t exist without Spinal Tap paving the way.
“I don’t really want to talk about anything other than Rob Reiner because he was such an incredible inspiration to me,” he said at the start of his interview. “There is no Tenacious D without Spinal Tap… There’s no School of Rock without Spinal Tap.”
The Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle star then urged the studio audience to do themselves “a favour” and check out This Is Spinal Tap.
Black went on to pay tribute to Reiner’s directorial efforts, which also included films such as When Harry Met Sally, Stand By Me, A Few Good Men and Misery.
“I love so many of his movies. It’s like an incredible oeuvre of films that he made. What a genius,” The Holiday actor added. “I just wanted to really quick give a shout-out to one of the biggest inspirations of my life and send love to the universe to one of the greats. He brought so much joy.”
Black formed Tenacious D with Kyle Gass in 1994. Since then, the rock duo has released four studio albums and starred in their own movie, 2006’s Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny.
In School of Rock, directed by Richard Linklater, he played struggling rock guitarist Dewey Finn, who becomes a substitute teacher and forms a band of talented schoolkids to win Battle of the Bands.
Reiner, 78, was found dead alongside his wife Michele at their home in Los Angeles on Sunday. Their son Nick, 32, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
