Jack Black used his rock ‘n roll antics for a good cause this weekend, as he sang AC/DC to benefit victims of the Australian bush fire. The comedian crashed a Twitch stream, joining in a karaoke game to help raise money for the World Wildlife Fund. Fans of School of Rock praised Black for — literally — using his voice for good.
Jack Black joined a group of Twitch streamers for a live broadcast on Friday, and clips from the show are still going viral. It featured the gamers all in a studio set, surrounded by microphones for a game of Twitch Sings. Unsurprisingly, Black chose the iconic AC/DC track “It’s A Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘N Roll)” for his performance.
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As always, Black dominated the stage with his larger-than-life presence, belting out the classic rock anthem to the delight of the audience. Black sang the same song in the closing scene of School of Rock back in 2003, along with his students from the film. In real life, Black is a massive fan of AC/DC and similar bands, and he channeled that into his own comedy rock band Tenacious D.
Black also has a YouTube channel called Jablinski Games, where he shows fans a slice of his day to day life while riffing on the thriving culture of online video game streaming. He does not always get around to playing a whole lot of video games, but he clearly has no disdain for the medium.
Black joined YouTuber and Twitch star Ethan Nestor, better known online as Crank Gameplays. Nestor did a 10-hour livestream on Friday to raise money for the World Wildlife Fund, with the hope of bringing in $50,000.
Nestor exceeded that goal, reaching over $66,000 with the event. He partnered with his fellow Twitch stars at Hyper RPG, who donated their studio space to the broadcast.
Thank you @jackblack for stopping by to karaoke with @CrankGameplays today and help raise $$$ for the @WWF emergency Australian bushfire appeal pic.twitter.com/1s9fELSo5h
— Hyper RPG (@Hyper_RPG) January 17, 2020
This is just the latest celebrity stunt undertaken in support of Australia, where bush fires have gotten incredibly destructive. It began with a lightning strike back in October, and since blossomed into a disaster that is nearly continent-wide.
According to the latest report from The New York Times, about 16 million acres have burned in Australia so far. This includes the burning of some invaluable prehistoric trees, and several populous areas.
“What we’re seeing in Australia, in a completely different environment, are fires that are approaching or even exceeding the magnitude of things that we only saw in the most remote forested regions in the world,” said Ross Bradstock, the director of the Center for Environmental Risk Management of Bushfires at the University of Wollongong in New South Wales.
I can’t explain how proud of I am of this community. Yesterday we raised over $66,000 for Australia in just 10 hours. Thank you all so much for showing up and absolutely destroying the goal!!!
Like always, absolutely none of this would’ve been possible without you — Ethan Nestor (@CrankGameplays) January 18, 2020
Authorities say the worst of the fire has now been largely contained, but there are still dozens of places where fires are actively burning, and the weather forecast shows hot and windy conditions that could exacerbate the damage. All in all, this disaster is far from over.
