Tenacious D covered Britney Spears‘ mega-hit “…Baby One More Time” for the new movie Kung Fu Panda 4, and a social media clip of Jack Black and Kyle Gass celebrating their version of the song has gone super viral. Now, Black has a message for Spears, telling the pop superstar, “I love you [and] I love the song.”
Black has voiced the lead character Po Ping in all of the Kung Fu Panda movies, and covered “…Baby One More Time” with his Tenacious D bandmate Gass for the end credits to the new film, which hits theaters this Friday (March 8th).
“I was like, ‘Can we do Britney Spears?’ And [director Mike Mitchell] was like, ‘Yes,’” Black told reporters at the film’s premiere, according to People. “And he said that he wanted ‘…Baby One More Time’ because it’s kind of in the vein of Kung fu.”
The social media clip of Black and Gass has garnered more than 50 million views on TikTok and more than 3 million likes on Instagram as of this posting. It shows the duo comically dancing to the Tenacious D version of “…Baby One More Time” as Black enthusiastically lip-syncs along to his own vocals.
When asked by Entertainment Tonight at the premiere if he had a message for Spears following the viral social media clip, Black said, “Britney, if you’re watching, I love you. I love the song … We’re very proud of [our version and] I hope you like it, too.”
The rocker-actor added that he’d definitely be up for a collab with Spears, saying, “I’m here! I’m ready when you are. I’m waiting by the phone. I got kicks! I don’t quite have Britney kicks, but you know, I got some moves.”
Spears has made a habit of posting dance videos on Instagram in recent years, so a collab with Black may not seem so far-fetched.
As for his starring voice role in the Kung Fu Panda movie series, Black further told Entertainment Tonight, “It has been the role of a lifetime. Playing Po the Dragon Warrior has been a blessing. … I didn’t realize at the time [of the first movie] that this was gonna be a role that I played for half my life.”
Tenacious D will embark on a spring UK/European tour, followed by a summer run of Australia and New Zealand. Pick up tickets to their upcoming shows at this location.
See the viral video of Tenacious D celebrating their version of “…Baby One More Time” in the TikTok and Instagram clips below, as well as our video interview with Black and Gass from a few years ago.
@jackblack Tenacious B! 🐼