We’ve long since stopped second-guessing 2020, but even so, was there anyone out there who imagined we’d witness professional Ronnie James Dio acolyte, and sometime Hollywood superstar, Jack Black leading a squad of politicians, comedians, actors and indie rockers in a screeching metallised remake of the theme to the Rocky Horror Picture Show? Can’t say we say that coming. But here we are.
Tenacious D frontman Black and his trusted lieutenant Kyle Glass had intended spending the week before the upcoming US Presidential election on a tour through key ‘swing states’, ie, states where the Republican and Democratic parties have roughly equal levels of support, and are therefore potentially significant battle grounds in deciding who will become the next US President. With Covid-19 restrictions putting paid to this plan, the D decided instead to record the aforementioned cover, proceeds from which will be donated to the Rock The Vote campaign, to encourage US citizens to cast a vote on November 3.
While Black and Gass refrain from explicitly telling anyone who to cast a vote for, the tweaked lyric “It’s just a jump to the left, and NOT a step to the right” and the presence of Senator Elizabeth Warren and South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg, both previously candidates for the Democratic Party nomination, and vocal Democrat supporters Sarah Silverman and Susan Sarandon alongside the likes of Karen O, Phoebe Bridgers and Reggie Watts in the video, may offer a teeny, tiny hint as to their own voting intentions.
