Watch Ronnie James Dio unleash his vocals on a Tenacious D song

Jack Black and Ronnie James Dio in the studio — (Image credit: YouTube)

Tenacious D rolled out the big guns when it came to making to their second album. Jack Black and Kyle Gass’s hard rocking comedy duo had a hit with their self-titled 2001 debut and were determined to make sure that the follow-up was harder, heavier and even more brilliantly daft. For that, they turned to some of their friends and heroes for help, with Dave Grohl returning on drums and now joined by guest vocalists Meat Loaf and Ronnie James Dio.

Both appear on The Pick Of Destiny’s epic opening track Kickapoo, with the video below capturing Dio in full flow as he adds his formidable vocals to the track as an elated Jack Black looks on from the control room. “I just can’t believe this is really happening,” Black tells him at the end.

Dio was a particular coup for huge fans Black and Gass, who were such diehards of the singer that they actually had a track titled Dio on their debut in homage to the former Rainbow and Black Sabbath singer. “We had no idea how he would react to the song,” Black later told Rolling Stone of their tribute track. “It was about how we wanted him to pass the torch of rock supremacy to us, Tenacious D, and that he’d enjoyed the spoils of heavy metal dominance long enough and it was our turn to reign supreme. Ultimately, it was an ode to his greatness but it could’ve easily been misconstrued as an insult. But Dio was a wise soul. He felt the love behind our humour and put our minds at ease. It was something he was known for: When he wasn’t onstage raising hell, he exuded a mellow peaceful vibe. His hang-ability quotient was extremely high.”

Watch Dio unleash that masterful set of pipes on Kickapoo below:

TOPICS

Niall Doherty is a writer and editor whose work can be found in Classic Rock, The Guardian, Music Week, FourFourTwo, Champions Journal, on Apple Music and more. Formerly the Deputy Editor of Q magazine, he co-runs the music Substack letter The New Cue with fellow former Q colleague Ted Kessler. He is also Reviews Editor at Record Collector. Over the years, he's interviewed some of the world's biggest stars, including Elton John, Coldplay, Radiohead, Liam and Noel Gallagher, Florence + The Machine, Arctic Monkeys, Muse, Pearl Jam, Depeche Mode, Robert Plant and more.