Tenacious D have announced their first new music since going on hiatus in 2024.
The comedy rock duo of Jack Black and Kyle Gass will appear on a new compilation album benefiting victims of the recent Los Angeles wildfires, contributing a cover of REO Speedwagon’s Keep On Loving You.
The album, Good Music To Lift Los Angeles, is also set to feature previously-unreleased recordings from Death Cab For Cutie, Chelsea Wolfe, King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard, R.E.M., Health, The Armed and others.
It will be available on the Bandcamp page of record label Good Music for 24 hours from 12:01am Pacific time on Friday, February 7. Proceeds will go to the L.A. Regional Food Bank and California Community Foundation’s Wildfire Fund.
Keep On Loving You will be the second Tenacious D cover to come out in the last 12 months, following their rendition of Britney Spears’ …Baby One More Time, which appeared on the soundtrack to Black’s film Kung Fu Panda 4.
The band also released an original track, Video Games, in 2023 and seemed to be gearing up for a new album. However, all of their plans, including all announced tour dates, were cancelled in July, after Gass told a joke onstage about the assassination attempt against then-former US president Donald Trump the previous day.
Gass made the seemingly off-the-cuff comment during the Sydney stop of Tenacious D’s Australia and New Zealand tour. When Black presented his bandmate with a cake for his 64th birthday and told him to make a wish, he said into his microphone, “Don’t miss Trump next time.”
In response to Gass’s quip, Australian senator Ralph Babet called for Tenacious D to be deported from the country. Black issued a statement on Instagram, saying he was “blindsided” by Gass’ comment and putting the band on ice. Gass later issued a now-deleted written apology.
In August, Black offered an update on the status of Tenacious D to Variety. He confirmed the band will return later down the line and that he and Gass remain friends, but that they “need to take a break”.
It’s unclear when Tenacious D recorded their new cover, but they have played it multiple times live over the years. Watch one performance below.
Good Music To Lift Los Angeles won’t be the only wildfire charity benefit album to drop this week. Another compilation – Los Angeles Rising, featuring Nick Cave, PJ Harvey, Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker and others – is now available to download via Bandcamp.
