Fictional history Fans of Spinal Tap have assembled details about the band based on fictional film, albums, concerts and related promotional material, including a discography and a list of the band's former members. Within the context of the band's fictional history, Spinal Tap began as a
beat group called the Thamesmen in 1964 and released one single, "Gimmie Some Money" with "Cups and Cakes" on the B-side, in 1965. They changed their name to Spinal Tap in 1966 and became a
psychedelic pop band, before reinventing themselves as a
heavy metal band in the early 1970s, the style for which they are best known.
jazz fusion,
funk and
reggae. and
rock and roll. Spinal Tap's fictional history documents a succession of drummers, all of whom are said to have died in strange circumstances: one in a "bizarre gardening accident"; another who "choked on vomit", but possibly not his own vomit; and two from "
spontaneous human combustion" onstage. Additionally, it is claimed that police described the "bizarre gardening accident" as a mystery "best left unsolved".
Real history McKean and Shearer had previously been members of
the Credibility Gap, a comedy troupe that did both spoken word and musical comedy, and had released a mini rock opera and at least one musical 7-inch single. In 1979, Guest and McKean were members of
Lenny and the Squigtones, a band that was fronted by characters from the hit television series
Laverne & Shirley. Guest, on guitar and clarinet, was credited as "Nigel Tufnel", the name he would eventually use as a member of Spinal Tap. He also used this name when the band appeared on
American Bandstand. Spinal Tap themselves first appeared in a video that aired as part of a 1979
sketch comedy special called
The T.V. Show, a project spearheaded by Rob Reiner. The video is for the song "Rock 'N' Roll Nightmare" in a sequence that is a spoof of
The Midnight Special. Michael McKean (as David St. Hubbins), Christopher Guest (as Nigel Tufnel), Harry Shearer (as Derek Smalls),
Loudon Wainwright III, and
Russ Kunkel appear in the video. The segment is introduced by Reiner in character as
Wolfman Jack. The appearance on
The T.V. Show eventually led to the creation of a film,
Spinal Tap: The Final Tour, tracing a disastrous tour undertaken by the aging British metal band Spinal Tap. Reiner appears as filmmaker Marty DiBergi, while Guest, McKean and Shearer returned as their characters, having further developed their Spinal Tap personas, whose names appear on-screen for the first time. Also added to the group were David Kaff (as keyboard player Viv Savage) and R.J. Parnell (as drummer Mick Shrimpton). Parnell had previously been in the band
Atomic Rooster, while Kaff had been a member of
Rare Bird. The quintet played their own instruments throughout the film. The band played three live performances in October 1982 in preparation for making
This Is Spinal Tap, at
Gazzarri's (as the support act for
Iron Butterfly) and
The Central in
West Hollywood, and the
Golden Bear in
Huntington Beach. The band Spinal Tap became a
going concern, with the group (in character) playing gigs and appearing on a 1984 episode of
Saturday Night Live to promote the film. The character of Mick Shrimpton having died in the film, Parnell played his twin brother drummer Ric Shrimpton for these and later appearances. Kaff dropped out shortly after the
Saturday Night Live appearance. In 1984, the band (Guest, McKean, Shearer and Parnell) issued the single "Christmas with the Devil". In 1985, McKean and Shearer (in character and credited as David St. Hubbins and Derek Smalls) participated in the all-star charity recording "Stars" by
Hear 'n Aid. They both sing on the record, and are seen in character in the behind-the-scenes "Making of" video.
Reunion and recent history The group reformed on January 18, 1991, for a performance at the
Disneyland Hotel that included new material. This featured on the 1992 release,
Break Like the Wind, an album produced in part by
T Bone Burnett. Several publicity stunts were staged surrounding the new album. An advertisement was placed in
Music Connection, HITS and
The Hollywood Reporter saying "DRUMMER DIED, need new one. Must have no immediate family. Auditions October 31 at LA Coliseum with David St. Hubbins, Nigel Tufnel, Derek Smalls." The "auditions" for a new drummer were held at the
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on October 31, 1991. They were attended by a few hundred real aspirants, and by
Stephen Perkins of
Jane's Addiction,
Gina Schock of
the Go-Go's,
Debbi Peterson of
the Bangles,
Micky Dolenz of
the Monkees, and
Mick Fleetwood of
Fleetwood Mac, who auditioned in a fireproof suit. Parnell was retained as "Ric Shrimpton" and remained the band's drummer. Kaff did not return, and consequently the "reunited" band consisted of Guest, McKean, Shearer and Parnell (all in character) and new keyboardist
C. J. Vanston (under his own name). A promotional concert tour followed, which included an appearance at
The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, where they performed "The Majesty of Rock", a song they dedicated to Mercury. The band also released the single "Bitch School," which became a genuine chart single in the UK, as did follow-up single "The Majesty of Rock". The band also appeared on
The Simpsons in the episode "
The Otto Show", which aired in the United States on April 23, 1992. The episode was written by
Jeff Martin and directed by
Wes Archer.
Harry Shearer, who is a regular
Simpsons cast member, reprised his role as
Derek Smalls. On July 1, 1992, Spinal Tap crossed five time zones for three performances in
St. John's,
Newfoundland;
Barrie, Ontario; and
Vancouver, British Columbia, for
MuchMusic and Molson's Great Canadian Party. For each performance of "Stonehenge", the miniature monument prop was delivered on stage in a courier envelope. Parnell dropped out of the group in the 1990s, leaving Spinal Tap to use session-drummers. In 2000, the band launched a web site named "Tapster", where their song "Back from the Dead" was made available for download. Tapster was a parody of
Napster, a
peer-to-peer file sharing network. In 2001, the band "reunited" for the nine-city "Back from the Dead Tour" that began on June 1, 2001, at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles. The tour included a show at
Carnegie Hall in New York City and ended in
Montreal in mid-July at the
Just for Laughs festival. The opening act for some of these shows were the Folksmen, the folk trio seen in the film
A Mighty Wind, and also performed by Guest, McKean, and Shearer. In 2007, Tap reunited again, this time to help combat
global warming. "They're not that environmentally conscious, but they've heard of global warming," said Marty DeBergi (portrayed by Reiner). "Nigel thought it was just because he was wearing too much clothingthat if he just took his jacket off it would be cooler." This reunion also included the release of a new song called "Warmer Than Hell". The band played on the
London leg of the
SOS/
Live Earth concert series, and
Rob Reiner has directed a short film (entitled
Spinal Tap) which was released on the Live Earth website on April 27. The film reveals that Nigel Tufnel is now working as a
farmhand looking after miniature horses. He plans to race them. David St. Hubbins is currently working as a
hip-hop producer, and Derek Smalls is in rehab for being
addicted to the Internet. A new album,
Back from the Dead, was released on June 16, 2009. The album consists mostly of re-recordings of songs from the original film's soundtrack, along with some new, previously unrecorded numbers. The album was nominated for
Best Comedy Album and
Best Recording Package at the
52nd Annual Grammy Awards. On April 6, 2009, the band announced a one-date "world tour," performing at London's
Wembley Arena on June 30, 2009. Support on this night came from the Folksmen. The band unexpectedly also self-confirmed for Glastonbury Festival 2009 during an online interview on May 8, 2009, in the
Philadelphia Daily News following a "Unwigged and Unplugged" show in the city. In 2018, Shearer released an album in the persona of Spinal Tap bassist Derek Smalls. The single "It Don't Get Old" was, as per the credits, co-written by David St. Hubbins. On 27 April 2019, the band reunited at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival for the 35th anniversary of the film. In May 2022, it was announced that the principal cast and director of the original movie were reuniting for
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, a sequel planned for release by Castle Rock Entertainment on September 11, 2025. Filming began in New Orleans in March 2024. Kaff died in July 2025. A third and final Spinal Tap film, titled
Spinal Tap at Stonehenge: The Final Finale, was planned to be released in 2026. The film was set to use concert footage which was shot at
Stonehenge in August 2025, with
Bleecker Street acquiring the rights to release the planned
concert film in the United States in October 2025. However, as a result of the
murder of director
Rob Reiner and his wife
Michelle in December 2025, plans to release the film have been put on pause.
Other appearances The band appeared as the musical guests on an episode of
Saturday Night Live (SNL) in the spring of 1984.
Barry Bostwick was the host. At this time, producer
Dick Ebersol approached Shearer, Guest and McKean to join the cast. Shearer and Guest accepted (McKean would not join until ten years later, by which time original producer
Lorne Michaels was back at the show's helm). Shearer's stint on
SNL the following season—his second, the first having been the 1979–80 season—was to be short-lived, following creative disputes with the show's management. In 1985, at the invitation of
Ronnie James Dio, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer took part in the
heavy metal benefit project
Hear 'n Aid, to raise money for famine victims in Ethiopia. McKean and Shearer attended the event in character as David St. Hubbins and Derek Smalls, appearing in the behind-the-scenes videos and interacting in character with many real-life metal stars, many of whom were huge fans of Spinal Tap. "David St. Hubbins" and "Derek Smalls" are part of the vocal chorus heard on the record (and seen in the video), and are credited under those names on the Hear 'n Aid single's front cover (alongside many real-life heavy metal stars). The
ad hoc supergroup's single "Stars" rose to No. 26 on the UK charts in May 1986. As part of the promotion surrounding
Break Like the Wind, Spinal Tap was portrayed in "
The Otto Show" episode of the animated series
The Simpsons, for which Shearer is a principal voice actor.
The Simpsons follows the approach of the original film by presenting the group as if they were a real group. During the disastrous performance, a massive devil balloon on the stage does not inflate properly, and Nigel is temporarily blinded by lasers. Later in the episode, their tour bus is accidentally pushed off a cliff due to
Otto's reckless driving. In a 2016 interview Shearer said this was the only time Spinal Tap had worked to a script, all other movie, television and live appearances being improvised. On July 1, 1992, as part of MuchMusic's Canada Day "Great Canadian Party" festival, Spinal Tap completed an unprecedented tour of Canada in less than 24 hours. Jetting across five time-zones, the band played St. John's, Newfoundland, Barrie, Ontario, and Vancouver, British Columbia. That evening, during a performance of "Stonehenge", Tap received their signature, triptych set-piece via
Canada Post in a small, bubble-wrap envelope that Derek Smalls signed for onstage. Bemused, Smalls tore open the packaging, and revealed to the cheering crowd the prop which looked to be half the size of the original 18 inch Stonehenge rock from the film. In 1993, Nigel Tufnel appeared in the
rockumentary Joe Satriani: The Satch Tapes. In 1994,
The Return of Spinal Tap was released on video; most of this is live material from a 1992 performance at the
Royal Albert Hall where the Stonehenge set was shown to the audience on video as being too big to fit through the stage doors, but it also includes some interviews and follow-up on the band members. In 2000, while promoting Tapster.com, Spinal Tap appeared and performed on the short-lived series VH1
The List (with
Mick Fleetwood on drums) and appeared on the
Late Show. On January 19, 2001, Spinal Tap played a "one night only" tour at the Hilton ballroom in Anaheim, CA. This was during the annual
NAMM Show, and sponsored by
Shure. Free earplugs were provided, "Stonehenge" was performed (with small dancers), and tour T-shirts were available the next day at Shure's tradeshow booth. The shirt showed several concert dates, but they were all marked cancelled - except the Jan 19 date. In 2006, Nigel Tufnel appeared in a
Volkswagen TV commercial highlighting their offer of a free, exclusive
First Act guitar with the purchase of qualifying automobiles. The guitar features knobs and inlays with the
Volkswagen logo and pre-amps that allow it to be played through the car's stereo system. Also in 2006, the song "Gimme Some Money" was used in a TV commercial for Open from
American Express, "Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight" appeared in
Harmonix's video game
Guitar Hero II and "Christmas with the Devil" appeared in
BBC One promo spots for the network's Christmas program. In 2007, while accepting an award from the
BBC Two program
The Culture Show, Christopher Guest broke into Nigel Tufnel, and considered what his wife and kids would make of the
Mark Kermode-shaped award. On July 7, 2007, Spinal Tap played at
Wembley Stadium in London along with many major bands and groups as part of
Live Earth, a
climate change awareness concert. Their set included a new song written for the occasion, "Warmer Than Hell". During their final number, the song "Big Bottom", St. Hubbins and Tufnel both picked up basses. Spinal Tap was also joined by "every bass player in the known universe", including
Nate Mendel (of the
Foo Fighters);
Robert Trujillo,
Kirk Hammett, and
James Hetfield (
Metallica);
Gordon Moakes (
Bloc Party); and
Adam Yauch (MCA of the
Beastie Boys). They were also joined on back-up vocals by
Annette O'Toole, Michael McKean's wife. In May 2008, Nigel Tufnel appeared in the
National Geographic show
Stonehenge Decoded, expounding his nonsensical theories about Stonehenge and who was responsible for building it. His claims to have invented "decoder" experiments capable of unveiling the true purpose of the monument are, as yet, unproven. McKean, Guest and Shearer have made several appearances as their alter egos the Folksmen, including the television shows
Saturday Night Live and
Mad TV and the film
The Return of Spinal Tap. On March 2, 2009, Guest, McKean and Shearer held a press conference at the House of Blues in Los Angeles to announce their forthcoming album of new and old Spinal Tap songs, plus a 2009 "Unwigged & Unplugged" tour to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the film,
This Is Spinal Tap. According to an
L.A. Weekly report, when MTV News'
Kurt Loder asked the trio if they had plans beyond an album and tour, Shearer answered, "We're gonna bomb
Iran." The tour also features songs from the Folksmen and others from throughout the trio's career. On April 1, 2009, Guest, McKean, and Shearer played on
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as the musical guest. On June 15, 2009, Spinal Tap performed on ''
The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien'' as the musical guest. On June 27, 2009, Spinal Tap performed on the main stage at the Glastonbury Festival with Jarvis Cocker guesting on bass during "Big Bottom", and also inviting
Jamie Cullum on stage to play keyboards. One of the unexpected highlights for Tap fans was a rendition of the newly written overture from the mythical
Jack the Ripper musical
Saucy Jack. Also on the bill were
Kasabian,
Crosby, Stills & Nash, and
Bruce Springsteen. On June 30, 2009, Spinal Tap performed at Wembley Arena with
the Folksmen as support. A variety of special guests featured including
Keith Emerson (joined them on organ/keyboards – which he later destroyed during the show) and
Justin Hawkins from the Darkness. On July 27, 2009, the band performed on
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon as the musical guest, announcing their retirement and shortly thereafter their comeback. The next day, July 28, they were the musical guest on
The Daily Show. On August 25, 2009, Spinal Tap released a seven-minute short film titled ''Stonehenge: 'Tis a Magical Place'' celebrating their 25th anniversary. The video is distributed through
INgrooves and is available only on
iTunes. The short film depicts the founding members of Spinal Tap making a pilgrimage to Stonehenge for the first time. On October 18, 2022, Spinal Tap star
Michael McKean shared a deleted scene from the movie on his Twitter account and added: "Wow, thanks. Unseen by me, anyway, Lo these many years." ==Band members==