The jazz singer Jack Black was completely obsessed with: “He blew people’s minds”
Jack Black’s vocal ability is something often overlooked in the musical world. He is such a multi-talented person that it becomes hard for people to latch on to just one of the things that he can do.
He is a great actor, writer, and personality in general; however, if you were to disregard all of that and just focus on his singing voice, you realise he would still be just as big as he is today without all of the other tools in his entertainment Swiss army knife.
It’s not just that Jack Black can hold a tune; it’s that he is able to do so in a way that conveys more emotion than some of the top singers out there. Whether he is performing a Tenacious D original or covering a band like Zeppelin, he is able to capture the heart of the song and project it purely in his voice.
That versatility is what separates Black from many novelty performers. Whether delivering soaring rock anthems, theatrical ballads or comedic songs, he approaches every performance with complete commitment, allowing his technical ability to shine beneath the humour.
This isn’t an accident, either. Black has always been keen on using his voice to stun crowds into silence. You can tell this as during his gigs when running through the order of the band, he devotes 30 seconds to himself, singing a different song every night. One particularly harrowing moment was when he sang ‘When Doves Cry’ shortly after Prince passed away, stunning a festival of thousands into silence.
He has always wanted to achieve this ever since he saw the singer Bobby McFerrin perform by himself. “I was obsessed with him, I would go so far as to say, because I had always imagined myself going out on stage by myself and blowing people’s minds just with the power of my singing voice,” he said, “Now, I’m revealing too much about my ambitions.”
Bobby McFerrin was an American jazz vocalist who was praised for the variety of techniques he was able to implement throughout his sound. He could jump in pitch in the blink of an eye, where many people need to build up to various tones; he was able to do it instantaneously. He was like a human version of autotune before autotune was ever even used, commonly known to silence crowds with just his voice alone. Needless to say, it’s clear where Jack Black gets his inspiration from.
McFerrin’s emphasis on using the voice as a complete instrument clearly resonated with Black. Rather than relying solely on impressive range or volume, both performers understand how phrasing, dynamics and personality can transform a vocal performance into something unforgettable.
One of the singer’s most famous pieces is the classic ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy’, but as Black points out, his ability was on display long before that. “Yeah. Long before ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy’, he was blowing people’s minds with incredible covers of, like, Beatles songs. He did an unbelievable version of ‘Blackbird’.”
It’s a pity that Jack Black isn’t thrown into the conversation more when we talk about legendary rock singers. Usually, when someone’s work veers on the side of parody, the public is reluctant to accept it as something astonishing, but he walks in the footsteps of his hero, McFerrin, in the way he can blow people’s minds with his voice.
Although his comedic reputation often overshadows his musicianship, Black has repeatedly demonstrated that he possesses the vocal talent to stand alongside far more conventional rock frontmen. His admiration for Bobby McFerrin reveals the artistic foundation behind that ability, proving that beneath the larger-than-life persona lies a genuinely gifted singer with a deep appreciation for vocal craft.
