Soundgarden reflects on connection to ‘Spinal Tap’ in tribute to Rob Reiner

Soundgarden has shared a tribute to late director Rob Reiner while reflecting on their connection to his film This Is Spinal Tap.

The beloved mockumentary was about a fictional band called Spinal Tap, which went on tour for real in 1984 after the film came out earlier that year. The tour concluded in Soundgarden’s hometown of Seattle, where the Tap left behind a giant skull that they’d been traveling with.

“Pearl Jam‘s Jeff Ament accessed the prop, repaired it, and provided it to Soundgarden for their show at the Seattle Bumbershoot Festival of 1990!” Soundgarden shares in an Instagram post.

The post also includes an excerpt from Reiner’s book A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever: The Story of Spinal Tap, in which actor Michael McKean, who plays Tap frontman David St. Hubbins, claims that “Spinal Tap invented grunge” by leaving the skull behind in Seattle.

“Did Spinal Tap invent grunge?” Soundgarden writes. “Well, Rob Reiner did warm our hearts and make us laugh with his stories and characters. Their charm, wit and insight certainly gave inspiration to the genre and to generations that followed.”

Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were found dead in their Los Angeles home on Dec. 14. Their son, Nick Reiner, has been arrested for murder.