The most “kickass vocalist in history”, according to Jack Black
To be an actor is to welcome some form of spotlight. It is unusual for people to want to stand in front of an audience and act, so the same can be said for singers. To get up in front of an audience and belt your notes out is welcoming more attention than most are comfortable with. It makes sense then that some actors, like Jack Black, are happy to find themselves with a mic in their hand from time to time.
In fact, in just about any interview, live appearance or casual meeting, you will find Black singing some form of riff-heavy rendition of a favourite new song, whether he is promoting his latest movie or happened to meet you at the grocery store. His turn with Tenacious D has always pointed at Black being a singer, but his talent is undervalued.
So much so, that Jack Black may be one of the single most underappreciated vocalists in the world of rock today. Even though a good 95% of his appeal is pure charm and conviction, he actually has a surprisingly decent set of pipes for a man whose main gig is more on the silver screen than behind a microphone. Before he even thought of getting in front of the camera for a living, Black first got his urge to sing thanks to Ozzy Osbourne.
Because if Tenacious D is all about being schooled by Satan, why not go with the one band that got accused of being Satan worshippers since the very beginning? While Tony Iommi and Osbourne were both known for wearing crosses whenever they were in Black Sabbath, they somehow got the reputation of having dabbled in the dark arts half the time.
Osbourne even refuted the claim that the band did anything mystical to help them achieve success, saying in Classic Albums, “It’s not like we stood over a bubbling cauldron and threw dead mice into it. We did try it, but it didn’t work.” When you have a gimmick in the business, you always lean into it, and Osbourne was more than happy to play the role of ‘The Prince of Darkness’.
It’s not like ‘The Ozzman’ was all flash, either. Compared to the heavy metal vocalists that came after him, Osbourne had a robust set of pipes that came from playing blues night after night in the Birmingham club scene. Even when looking at some of the band’s strongest material, Osbourne is still wailing in the same way that Janis Joplin did, eventually paving the way for people like James Hetfield years later.
For Black, that kind of dark singing was all he needed. When picking his favourite albums, Black singled out the best-of Sabbath collection We Sold Our Souls For Rock ‘n’ Roll, telling Entertainment Weekly, “Ozzy is the most haunting, evil, kick-ass vocalist in history. Hands down. This album is a capsule of a romantic time when Satan was real. You were going to hell, but you didn’t care because it rocked so f—in’ hard.”
Even in his breakout performance in School of Rock, Black was teaching his students the ways of rock and roll, with Sabbath’s music being featured prominently in the film. If he couldn’t get ‘The Prince of Darkness’ himself when talking about his own band, he got the next best thing in Ronnie James Dio a few years later when he needed to pray to a rock god in the stoner classic Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny.
It’s not like Osbourne is the worst model for singers. When listening to how Black carries a tune, he has that same kind of vocal resilience, singing straight from the diaphragm and letting every song sound like an Osbourne-style power ballad. Even if the man was asked to sing Tom Waits, there’s a good chance he could turn it into one of the most epic tracks that Waits ever put his name to.
And say what you want to about the piece, but the way Osbourne sings is probably the reason why ‘Peaches’ was such a big hit for Black in the wake of the Super Mario Bros movie. Many can try to sing what’s in their heart, but both Black and Osbourne know that it’s not just about hitting the right notes. It’s about embracing the song with everything you’ve got until you’re screaming bloody murder.
