On April 1, 2021, the Twitter account for the comedy rock band Tenacious D posted a message for their 207,000 followers saying that guitarist Kyle Gass had quit the band. Tenacious D is a duo, so without Gass, lead singer Jack Black would be all on his own in the band. The band has never been a huge moneymaker, but it's hard to imagine it could survive at all without its lead guitarist. However, eagle-eyed fans were quick to notice that the statement was posted on April Fools Day, and sure enough the band retracted the statement just seven hours later.
These tweets were not just a meaningless April Fools prank. They were also a reference to the band's 2001 song titled "Kyle Quit the Band." The opening lyrics to the track are, "Last week/ Kyle quit the band/now we're back together, uh/misunderstanding," so it's clear to see how the tweet is alluding to the song.
But although the tweet was simply a prank, is there any truth to the lyrics of the song? Did Kyle Gass ever actually quit Tenacious D? Here's the truth behind "Kyle Quit the Band."
9 How Jack Black Met Kyle Gass
Tenacious D was founded in 1994 by actors and musicians Jack Black and Kyle Gass. In those days, Black had yet to become the world-famous actor and social media star he is today, and Gass had only played small roles in two Hollywood movies. The two met in the 1980s while they were both members of The Actor's Gang, an esteemed Los Angeles theatre troupe. Black was still a teenager at the time, while Gass was in his late twenties.
8 Black and Gass Didn't Get Along at First
Although their friendship and musical partnership has lasted for more than twenty-five years, Jack Black and Kyle Gass didn't immediately get along with one another when they first met. In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Gass said "We were not instant friends." However, the two bonded as they began to work on music together. In the same interview, Black said, "We eventually realized if we joined forces, we could be an indestructible force of entertainment."
7 Gass Taught Black Some Very Important Lessons
Jack Black wasn't really a musician before he met Kyle Gass. In fact, it was Gass who taught Black how to play the guitar, which the two revealed on an episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien. So while Jack Black may have become the more successful of the two, he will always owe a debt of gratitude to Gass for the music lessons.
6 Tenacious D's Big Break
Tenacious D gave their first official performance at Al's Bar in 1994, where actor and comedian David Cross heard them play and invited them to open for his live comedy show Mr. Show, Black and Gass told Kerrang! magazine. A year later, Jack Black would be cast as a featured performer on the television version of Mr. Show. Perhaps it bothered Gass that Black was beginning to see more and more success as an actor while he was still struggling to land roles, but that never led Gass to quit the band.
5 The First Demo Tape
After performing in various venues around Los Angeles for several years, Tenacious D self-produced their first demo tape. The demo tape featured four songs: "Tribute," "Krishna," "History," and "Kyle Quit the Band." So as it turns out, "Kyle Quit the Band" was actually one the group's earliest songs.
4 The Story Behind "Kyle Quit the Band"
There is no reason to believe that "Kyle Quit the Band" is anything other than a funny song. As Jack Black told Kerrang!, he and Gass "write song titles before the actual songs" and that they try to come up with song titles that "would make you want to listen." It seems like the duo just decided that "Kyle Quit the Band" was a great idea for a song.
3 "Kyle Quit the Band" Live
The duo is notable for including comedy sketches on their albums and in their concerts, and sometimes they will perform a sketch where Black and Gass get into a fight onstage and Gass storms off, pretending to have quit the band. After that, Black will perform his solo number "Dude (I Totally Miss You)" only to have Gass return shortly thereafter to rejoin band.
2 Kyle's Other Bands
Kyle Gass never actually quit Tenacious D, and the band has now been performing together for twenty-seven years. However, the band has gone on several long hiatuses, often because of Jack Black's busy schedule as a Hollywood star. For this reason, Gass has formed two other bands without Black, called Trainwreck and The Kyle Gass Band. However, even though Gass has two other bands, he remains a member of Tenacious D to this day.
1 Recent Projects
Tenacious D is still together, and there are no signs that they're planning to break up any time soon. In 2020, Jack Black and Kyle Gass wrote a graphic novel together, which was inspired by their fourth studio album Post-Apocalypto from 2018. Their most recent project was a mashup of two songs by The Beatles, which they released as a charity single for Doctors Without Borders.
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