Conan Recruits Slash For Guitar Duel With Jack Black

Who rocks harder on the guitar, Jack Black or Conan O'Brien? Last night's episode of Conan put the comedians' guitar chops to the test with an intense rock-off - sort of. After reminiscing about their sets at this year's Bonaroo Festival, Black casually dismissed O'Brien's commitment to rocking out, alleging that Conan's performances with his Legally Prohibited Band were more of a hobby, whereas Black's band Tenacious D is a "legit band."

Read our cover story on Conan O'Brien from the November issue (subscription only)

Naturally, they settled their differences with a guitar duel. Unfortunately for Black, the flame-haired host stacked the deck in his favor, and was revealed to be miming hot solos performed behind a curtain by Guns N Roses and Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash. Check out the guitar battle in the final third of the clip above.

Jack Black Goes On The Attack [Team Coco]

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Song Stories

“I'm Yours”

Jason Mraz | 2008

Jason Mraz re-emerged after his disappointing second album with this lead single, a Jack Johnson-esque ditty about giving yourself fully to someone else. The success of the reggae-tinged song (it earned two Grammy nods and a spot on the Billboard singles chart for well over a year) was something the folk-pop singer never predicted when he wrote it in 15 minutes at home. "I played a happy-hippie chord progression that would probably work without 50 different Bob Marley songs," he told Rolling Stone. "I thought, 'It's too novelty. This is a nursery rhyme,'" concluding that "you can never guess what's gonna be a hit."

More Song Stories entries »

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