Spinal Tap
Spinal Tap (stylized as Spın̈al Tap) are a parody English heavy metal band created by the American comedians and musicians Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer. McKean plays the singer, lead bass, and guitarist David St. Hubbins, Guest plays the guitarist Nigel Tufnel, and Shearer plays the bassist Derek Smalls. They are characterized as "one of England's loudest bands".
Spinal Tap first appeared on the 1979 ABC television sketch comedy pilot The T.V. Show, starring Rob Reiner. The sketch, actually a mock promotional video for the song "Rock and Roll Nightmare", was written by Reiner and the band, and included the songwriter-performer Loudon Wainwright III on keyboards. The band starred in the 1984 mockumentary film This Is Spinal Tap and its 2025 sequel Spinal Tap II: The End Continues. They have released four albums: This Is Spinal Tap (1984), the soundtrack of the original film; Break Like the Wind (1992); Back from the Dead (2009); and The End Continues (2025), the soundtrack of the sequel film.
The actors have performed in character at concerts and released music under the Spinal Tap name. They toured in the United States in April and May 2009 and performed as Spinal Tap in a "One Night Only World Tour" on June 30, 2009, at Wembley Arena in London, three days after playing the Glastonbury Festival.
The trio also portray the fictional American folk music revival band the Folksmen; some Spinal Tap concert appearances have featured Guest, McKean and Shearer opening for Spinal Tap as the Folksmen.
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