In 1993, Richard Linklater featured songs from many rock bands, including ZZ Top, Black Sabbath, and Deep Purple, in his film ‘Dazed and Confused.’ But he failed to take Led Zeppelin’s permission to use its material in the soundtrack.
So, when the director started shooting ‘School of Rock‘ in the early 2000s, he turned to his main lead Jack Black for help. The actor revealed how he begged the band to use one of their songs in the movie in 2003. Before its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, he told IGN:
“They weren’t going to let us use it. [Richard Linklater] wanted to use ‘Dazed and Confused’ to open his movie ‘Dazed and Confused,’ and he couldn’t get it then either, so he had a history of not being able to get Zeppelin songs.”
Sharing Linklater’s plan, Black went on:
“So, he said, he had this idea, be was like, ‘Man, when we do the concert scene in front of a thousand extras, you should just like, just say something straight to the camera about… just beg Zeppelin to let us use their song.'”
He mentioned the video’s content by saying:
“I said, ‘Alright,’ and we did that, and I used the audience as my backup; I had them to chant with me, just basically groveling to Zeppelin, the gods of rock, to let us use their song or else our movie was just going to explode into pieces.”
The two sent the video directly to Led Zeppelin members:
“And they did [let us use it]. It worked! They let us pay them hundreds of thousands of dollars. [Laughs]”
Years later, during an interview with Vulture, Robert Plant commented on the band’s decision to let ‘Immigrant Song’ be used in ‘School of Rock.’ Since Led Zeppelin rarely allows its songs in movies and TV, he said the band members wanted to ‘blow their myth up into the sky for a while.’
Delving into their decision-making process, the vocalist first explained:
“It’s group decisions. There are two Capricorns and one Leo. We have to go through the whole thing together. When there’s something uncomfortable, unpleasant, or overtly just not the right place for our music to be, we say no.”
He also commented on the track’s use in the film and added:
“There are great risks. There are risks that are immediately attractive… So to give it to the kids, it’s great. I mean, Jack Black’s got it right down. He’s that risk. All of my grandkids have all been able to play Jack Black’s riffs. I think it was exactly the right thing to do, with ‘School of Rock,’ to blow our myth up into the sky for a while. Because it’s all myth. It doesn’t matter. I’ve watched the film and find it funny.”
Paramount Pictures later included the video Jack Black and Richard Linklater made for the band in ‘School of Rock’ DVD extras. You can watch it below.
