Before TOOL, Maynard James Keenan Scored His First Hit Squealing Like a Pig for Green Jellÿ

Long before Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer cemented Maynard James Keenan as one of rock’s most enigmatic voices, he found himself squealing in falsetto for a novelty 90s comedy track. That song? Green Jellÿ’s twisted Claymation take on “Three Little Pigs.”

In the early 1990s, Keenan was a newcomer in Los Angeles, fresh from Michigan, with a brief military stint and art school experience under his belt. While forming Tool with Adam Jones, Danny Carey, and Paul D’Amour, Maynard simultaneously joined the chaotic comedy-punk troupe Green Jellÿ.

Founded by Bill Manspeaker in the ’80s, Green Jellÿ thrived on anarchic DIY antics: puppet shows, out-of-tune instruments, and revolving members—among them, future Tool drummer Danny Carey and Maynard himself. According to Manspeaker, Tool even formed at his Hollywood loft during wild parties.

Green Jellÿ’s 1992 VHS release Cereal Killer featured the nursery-rhyme parody “Three Little Pigs,” a DIY Claymation spectacle lampooning LA rock culture. Keenan, along with Les Claypool and Pauly Shore, voiced the three pigs, famously delivering the line “Not by the hair on my chinny-chin-chin.”

The track became a surprise hit: breaking into the US Top 20 and peaking at Number 5 in the UK—long before Tool’s “Sober” hit the charts. As Manspeaker recalls, this novelty punk-rap nursery rhyme gave Keenan his first taste of mainstream success, proving that even the most serious future prog-metal icon had once squealed for laughs.

Keenan eventually moved on from Green Jellÿ as Tool’s career exploded, but the sense of humor and willingness to embrace the absurd never left him—a playful streak still evident today in Puscifer. As Manspeaker puts it:

“Puscifer is his Green Jellÿ. It’s kind of funny. I’m actually honoured.”

Sometimes, even the most legendary careers start with a little chaos, a ridiculous wig, and a line about a pig’s chin.

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