Jack Black stopped by “Late Night” on Tuesday night and, as soon as he possibly could, took a moment to remember late Rob Reiner, following the director’s killing on Sunday. Black called the man a genius, and readily admitted that, without Reiner, “School of Rock” and Tenacious D simply wouldn’t exist.
As Black took the stage, promoting his new film “Anaconda,” host Seth Meyers noted that his kids love Black’s work onscreen, so he thought to then show them some Tenacious D songs. The NBC host then admitted he was very quickly reminded that Tenacious D is, well, not for kids. And at that, Black took a slight detour.
“Dude, if we’re talking funny songs, I want to — I’m gonna feel weird if we don’t talk a little bit, I hope you don’t mind — I don’t really want to talk about anything other than Rob Reiner,” Black said. “Because he was such an incredible inspiration to me.”
“If you mention Tenacious D, there is no Tenacious D without ‘Spinal Tap,’” he continued. “And anyone out here, any of the young millennials that haven’t seen ‘Spinal Tap,’ do yourself a favor. There’s no ‘School of Rock’ without ‘Spinal Tap.’”
At that, both Meyers and Black simply turned into fans, applauding the wide range of genres that Reiner’s career spanned across, from mockumentary with “This Is Spinal Tap” to horror, with “Misery.” Black simply called Reiner a “genius.”
“I just wanted to really quick give a shoutout for the one of the biggest inspirations of my life, and send love to the universe to one of the greats,” Black added. “One of the greats. He brought so much joy.”
Reiner and his wife were tragically killed in their home on Sunday, allegedly by their troubled son Nick Reiner, who was taken into custody on Monday. On Tuesday, police charged Nick Reiner with two counts of first degree murder, with a possible sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. A decision is pending on whether prosecutors would seek the death penalty.
You can watch Jack Black’s full appearance on “Late Night” in the video above.
