Kyle Gass

Kyle Richard Gass (born July 14, 1960)^[1] is an American singer, musician, actor and comedian, best known for being a member of Tenacious D, a Grammy-winning comedy band.^[2] He is also a member of Trainwreck and the Kyle Gass Band.^[3]

Early life

Kyle Richard Gass was born in Walnut Creek, California on July 14, 1960. He has two brothers. At age eight, he learned to play guitar and flute and later made his first television appearance in an advertisement for 7UP.^[1] He attended Las Lomas High School, where he played flute with Greg Williams in the marching band and graduated in 1978.^[3] He studied acting at UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, where he met Tim Robbins.^[1] In 1982, he joined Robbins' The Actors' Gang and in the early 1990s met and befriended Jack Black in the group.^[4]

Career

Acting

Gass first appeared on-screen in a 1988 7-Up Gold commercial, and made his film debut two years later in the horror movie Brain Dead.^[5]

He made cameo appearances in 1996 film Bio-Dome (alongside Jack Black), the Seinfeld episode "The Abstinence" in 1996, a 1999 episode of the television show Fear of a Punk Planet,^{[citation needed]} and a 2003 season 9 episode of Friends, ("The One with the Mugging"), as Phoebe’s street friend Lowell.^{[citation needed]} He appeared in music videos for Good Charlotte's 2002 song "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous", the Foo Fighters' 1999 song "Learn to Fly", and I Prevail's 2017 song "Already Dead".^{[citation needed]} In 2017, Gass won the FilmQuest award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the film Apartment 212.^[6]

Gass has played small roles in many of Jack Black's films including Year One, Kung Fu Panda, Shallow Hal, Saving Silverman and The Cable Guy. He also starred with Black in the movie Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny.

Gass appeared in Jacob's Ladder (1990), appeared as the "couch potato" in The Cable Guy (1996), and as an inept author of children's books in the comedy Elf (2003). He had a cameo role as a singing karaoke cowboy in Wild Hogs (2007). In 2008 he played the porn director in Extreme Movie, Walrus Boy in Wieners, the dirty trucker in the men's room in Sex Drive, and Decatur Doublewide in Lower Learning.^[7]

Music

In Tenacious D, Gass plays lead guitar and sings backing vocals, and also plays the role of Black's comic foil in most of their comedy routines.

While appearing on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on November 15, 2006,^[8] Gass claimed to have been the youngest graduate of the Juilliard School of Music with a degree in classical guitar studies at the age of 13. Juilliard did not have a guitar program in 1973, but began its graduate level guitar program in 1989 under Sharon Isbin, and its undergraduate program in 2007. Earlier, in an article in the Sunday Times on October 29, 2006, Black stated that Gass was the youngest graduate of Juilliard.^[9] On May 13, 2008, Gass was a phone-in guest on the Adam Carolla Show. When Adam Carolla asked him "... And did you go to Juilliard?" Kyle replied "I didn't. I—you know, I made that up as a joke," he continued, "and I thought it would be hilarious, and then I've been hearing about it ever since. Apologies to Juilliard."^[10]

In 2017, Gass performed the song "Penelope" for Amazon Music's "Love Me Not" compilation album.^[11]

In 2021, Gass announced his first solo tour "Kyle Gass Must Save the World," however it was later cancelled.^[12]

Controversy

On July 16, 2024, Jack Black announced the cancellation of the ongoing Tenacious D Australian tour after Gass said, "Don't miss Trump next time," on stage two days earlier, referencing a recent assassination attempt on Donald Trump. Gass made the comment after being presented with a birthday cake for his 64th birthday and was asked by Black to "make a wish".^[13] Two days later, Black said on social media that he was "blindsided" by Gass's comment, and that he would "never condone hate speech or encourage political violence in any form". Tenacious D canceled the remainder of their world tour, and Black said their "future creative plans are on hold".^[14][15] Gass apologized on social media, calling his comment "Highly inappropriate, dangerous and a terrible mistake," that he did not condone violence "of any kind, in any form, against anyone," and described the shooting as a "tragedy".^[16] He was subsequently dropped by his longtime talent agent, Michael Greene.^[17] Gass deleted the apology two days later.^[18] At the premiere for the film Borderlands on August 6, Black said he and Gass remained friends and would return "when it feels right".^[19]

Other media

Gass starred in a web show, Guitarings, with John Konesky^[20] and currently hosts the Did We Do It podcast with Kevin Weisman.^[21] He has appeared as a contestant on the TV game show Sale of the Century.

Discography

with Tenacious D

• Tenacious D (2001)
• The Pick of Destiny (2006)
• Rize of the Fenix (2012)
• Post-Apocalypto (2018)

with Trainwreck

• The Wreckoning (2009)

with Kyle Gass Band

• Kyle Gass Band (2013)
• Thundering Herd (2016)

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Music videos

References

1. ^ "Kyle Gass Movies and Shows - Apple TV". Apple TV. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
2. ^ "Grammy Awards 2015: The Complete Winners List". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
3. ^ "Kyle Gass AKA Kyle Richard Gass". NNDB. Archived April 2, 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
4. ^ "Production History - The Actors' Gang". The Actors' Gang. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
5. ^ Eric (2019-05-30). "7up Gold Commercial Featuring Kyle Gass From Tenacious D (1988)". That Eric Alper. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
6. ^ "FilmQuest 2017 Winners". imdb.com
7. ^ "Kyle Gass – Actor, producer". Variety. Archived from the original on October 12, 2008. Retrieved 2009-03-09.
8. ^ "Episode 15 November 2006 of Late Night with Conan O'Brien". IMDb. Retrieved 2007-03-24.
9. ^ Rees, Jasper (August 29, 2006). "Dude, where's my guitar?". The Sunday Times. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
10. ^ "Podcast of interview with Kyle Gass". The Adam Carolla Show. 97.1 FreeFM. May 13, 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-14.^{[dead link]}
11. ^ Kyle Gass, "Penelope", retrieved 2020-12-24
12. ^ LMNR (2021-08-19). "KYLE GASS MUST SAVE THE WORLD TOUR 2021". livemusicnewsandreview.com. Retrieved 2021-12-12.
13. ^ "Jack Black axes tour over bandmate's Trump comment". BBC News. July 16, 2024. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
14. ^ Sharf, Zack (July 16, 2024). "Jack Black Cancels Tenacious D Tour and 'All Future Creative Plans' After Kyle Gass' Remark on Trump Assassination Attempt: 'I Was Blindsided by What Was Said'". Variety. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
15. ^ "Jack Black 'blindsided' by Kyle Gass' Trump shooting comment, ends Tenacious D tour". MSN. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
16. ^ Juneau, Jen. "Jack Black Cancels Tenacious D Tour as Bandmate Kyle Gass Apologizes for 'Inappropriate' Trump Joke". People. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
17. ^ Weprin, Alex (July 16, 2024). "Jack Black Cancels Tenacious D Tour After Being "Blindsided" By Partner Kyle Gass' Trump Comment". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
18. ^ Zemler, Emily (2024-07-19). "Kyle Gass Deletes Donald Trump Apology Post Following Tenacious D Fallout". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
19. ^ Zee, Michaela (August 6, 2024). "Jack Black says Tenacious D will 'be back' following tour cancellation due to Kyle Gass' Trump shooting remark: 'these things take time'". Variety
20. ^ "Guitarings - YouTube". YouTube
21. ^ "Kyle and Kevin "Did We Do It?"". Bleav Podcast Network. 2021-01-15. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
22. ^ "Kyle Gass". IMDb. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
23. ^ Rudden, Dave (September 1, 2009). "Exclusive: Gass, Posehn, Agee in Brutal Legend!". GamePro. Archived November 2, 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved September 1, 2009.

External links

• Kyle Gass at IMDb