38 Years Later, The Best Band That Never Existed Is Back — With Help From Paul McCartney
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Good music is good music, and one of the best albums — and band — that never existed is coming back after a 38-year hiatus. The iconic return of the fake band Spinal Tap is coming true with the help of music legend Paul McCartney, among others. Yes, This is Spinal Tap is coming back to life with a new sequel nearly four decades after the cult classic original!
“We’re making a sequel,” Rob Reiner, the director of the original 1984 mockumentary, said on the “RHLSTP with Richard Herring” podcast recently.
The iconic and hilarious mockumentary about an English heavy metal band named Spinal Tap charmed audiences almost 40 years ago — and remains an iconic comedy that playfully poked at the stereotypes and drama of ‘80s rock. The movie quickly became a cult classic thanks to the bumbling bandmates who made it easy to root for them, and against them, when nothing seemed to go smoothly for them while on tour. The movie gave us classic quote after classic quote, and at the time of its release, famous touring musicians like Ozzy Osbourne and U2’s The Edge admitted that the mockumentary felt very real to them to the point that they didn’t realize, at first, that it was a comedic movie.
And now, finally, we’re going to get to revisit our favorite pretend band, and there’s a working timeline already. “We’re going to start shooting at the end of February,” Reiner said, “and everybody is back.”
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According to Variety, everyone from the original fake band will reprise their roles; Harry Shearer, Michael McKean, and Christopher Guest are set to return as the band. The publication reports the new movie is also going to be filmed documentary style, taking inspiration from “The Last Waltz,” Martin Scorsese’s concert film that documented the farewell tour of the rock group The Band. But there will be some new faces, too.
Reiner said some new faces were joining the sequel to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the original, including real-life music legends Paul McCartney, Garth Brooks, and Elton John. As for whether or not we’ll get an album or a vinyl out of it, who is to say? And whether or not Paul McCartney will help write music for the movie or just simply be there to be a funny-man, even harder. But we’re all ready to turn it up to 11 — so long as none of the Spinal Tap members die in a mysterious gardening accident, that is.