The band Dave Grohl and Jack Black agree are the greatest of all time: “Better than the Beatles”
Jack Black really is living the dream.
Growing up as a kid obsessed with rock music but also discovering a passion for acting, the fact that he’s managed to converge the two into such a powerful career is an absolute triumph. Then, add on top of that his close friendship with iconic rockers and it really couldn’t get any better.
It could very well have ended up at a point where Black would have had to pick a lane. Few people truly get to do it all, but the formation of Tenacious D alongside Kyle Gass and their quick-growing popularity allowed them that. They perfectly danced on the line where the band was both recognised as a comedy act, keeping him in the acting and performance circles, but also was noted for simply being really good as a legitimate rock act. They can really play, and they can really sing, so jokes aside, people still wanted to go see them.
Some of that growing audience were rockstars themselves, as the love for the band also came from legitimate musicians, forging friendships between Black and people like Dave Grohl, who was constantly in their orbit, either playing drums on their records or appearing in music videos. It’s a mutual thing as Black has also cropped up in Foo Fighters videos, starring in the clip for ‘Low’.
It’s a reminder of the social power music has, as something as simple as mutual taste can be the spark for a lifelong friendship. The mere fact that both Black and Grohl share the same favourite band helped forge an important connection for both of them.
“Led Zeppelin…the greatest rock and roll band of all time. Better than the Beatles, better than The Stones,” Black said once, which is a huge, loft claim. But he said the material backs it up, adding, “If you don’t agree with me, that’s because you haven’t done the Zeppelin marathon. It’s when you sit your ass down and listen to all nine Zeppelin albums in a row. The jams of Led Zeppelin are second to none.”
To him, no other band could ever dare to compare to what Jimmy Page and Robert Plant did on their records – and Dave Grohl would agree.
Grohl has one clear, obvious favourite band, and it’s Zeppelin, too. The man quite literally has it inked on his body as he has tattoos dedicated to the band.
“Led Zeppelin completely moulded the way I play the drums. No one can deny that band anything. All their albums are great,” he said as the 1970s unit shaped who he is as a musician.
He told Rolling Stone, “They showed me that human beings could channel this music somehow and that it was coming from somewhere…It was coming from four musicians taking music to places it hadn’t been before – it’s like it was coming from somewhere else.”
Laying the praise on thick, he concluded much like Black, saying, “That’s why they’re the greatest rock and roll band of all time. It couldn’t have been any other way.”
So with a mutual favourite band connecting them, it’s really no wonder that Black and Grohl have become such tight buddies.
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