Fans of Tenacious D have forever been begging to know exactly what inspired the duo’s legendary song Tribute.
Now, Jack Black and Kyle Gass have revealed the two tracks that inspired their most famous song.
The true inspiration behind Tenacious D’s Tribute has finally been revealed after almost 20 years.
Tribute was released in 2001 and told the tale of Black and Gass who came face to face with a demon that demanded they play the greatest song in the world. The track is a “tribute” to the song they played, and fans have long been guessing who the duo are paying tribute to. At first it appeared to be two songs, by two very different bands—One by Metallica and Stairway To Heaven by Led Zeppelin.
However, it appears that there is more to the story. In fact, the pair didn’t quite agree on which song actually inspired Tribute. While Gass argued that One was the greatest song in the world, Black believed that none was greater than Stairway To Heaven. Black stated:
“When we were talking about what’s the greatest song in the world, at the time it was Metallica – ‘One’, some would say. But really, you can’t say that that was a greater inspiration than ‘Stairway To Heaven’.”
Gass argued that Metallica were “…going places that people didn’t normally go, but also with really staccato riffs. They were very exciting. It just seemed very important.”
Black agreed, saying, “You can tell that it’s [Metallica’s] best song because whenever you see them live, they always save that for the end. They know that people are waiting for ‘One’.”
But then the duo revealed that the biggest influence for the song The Devil Went Down To Georgia which was originally performed by the Charlie Daniels Band. Black said:
“There’s a great tradition of doing battle with Satan. And of them all, I think ‘The Devil Went Down To Georgia’ is probably the most powerful, iconic version of that story.”
Relive Tenacious D’s most famous creation below.
