- When he asked Nirvana for permission to parody "Smells Like Teen Spirit", their first question was, "Will it be about food?". When Weird Al explained that "Smells Like Nirvana" would be about how nobody could understand their singing, they agreed that it sounded funny and granted permission.
- Said he knew he had made it as a famous musician when he went to a party, saw Paul McCartney and before he could introduce himself to the former Beatle, McCartney recognized him and said, "Hey! It's Weird Al!".
- Another artist to have denied parody permission is Paul McCartney. Weird Al wrote a parody of "Live and Let Die" called "Chicken Pot Pie", but McCartney (a staunch vegetarian) denied permission. As a result, Weird Al has never released the song, but has performed it in concert.
- Graduated valedictorian from Lynwood High School at the tender age of 16. Moreover, Weird Al was one of the most popular kids in his class. He also claims to have started a club called "The Volcano Worshippers", so he could get his picture onto even more pages in the school yearbook. Famous alumni from his school include Kevin Costner, Mark Spitz, Suge Knight, Fred Gwynne, etc.
- After graduating from college, he applied to work at McDonald's, but was rejected for being overqualified.
- He wrote "Yoda" (a parody of The Kinks' song "Lola") as far back as 1980, but could not release it until 1985 with his third album, "Dare to Be Stupid", because Ray Davies considered the song too personal for parody. However, after the massive success of "Eat It", Davies was convinced that Weird Al could successfully perform the parody while respecting the original.
- He was offered the opening spot for the European leg of Michael Jackson's "Bad" tour. However, he was involved in the production of his movie UHF (1989) at the time, and respectfully declined.
- When he requested permission to parody Dire Straits' song "Money for Nothing", authorization was granted -- with the stipulation that Mark Knopfler (a huge fan of Weird Al) be allowed to play lead guitar on the song. Thus, "Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies" (featured on the UHF (1989) soundtrack) is one of the few Yankovic songs in which Jim West *doesn't* play lead guitar.
- After the incident with Coolio and "Amish Paradise", Weird Al acquires permission for his parodies directly from the artists, and not through intermediaries.
- Fell under the disfavor of rap star Coolio, who claimed that Weird Al's single "Amish Paradise" (a parody of "Gangsta's Paradise") was disrespectful of his song which he felt was too serious to parody. Weird Al said that his record label had been given permission by Coolio to parody the song but the rapper denied giving that sanction (the confusion appears to have been caused by a breakdown in the chain of communication, where a "yes" was given by his record label without Coolio's knowledge). In response, Weird Al wrote Coolio a letter of apology to which he has (to date) not responded. No legal action has been taken. Ironically, "Gangsta's Paradise" is itself a sampled reworking of Stevie Wonder's single "Pasttime Paradise".
- Contrary to popular belief, Weird Al is not under any explicit obligation to obtain permission from the composers of the songs he parodies -- courts in the United States and other countries have consistently given great latitude to parody, almost always ruling that it is protected under the tenets of free expression and social critique (the exceptions are generally cases where the resulting work violates principles of good taste). However, out of respect for his peers in the entertainment industry, he has always asked permission, and (the Coolio controversy notwithstanding) has consistently abided by the artists' wishes. While permission isn't mandatory, he *is* obligated to pay royalties for any direct parodies.
- His video for "Fat" was filmed in the same parking garage as Michael Jackson's "Bad", and included several of the same actors and dancers. The "fat suit" he wore (which weighed 40 pounds) caused him to lose weight, not only because it made him sweat profusely, but the sight of himself as being grotesquely obese made him want to eat less.
- Parents Nick Yankovic and Mary Yankovic were killed on April 9, 2004, when a closed fireplace-flue caused their home to fill with carbon monoxide.
- Despite not requiring permission from artists/bands to parody their songs, he is required by law to pay royalties for any parodies that directly sample any lyrics, music, etc., from other songs. Because of the number of parodies he's written, recorded and performed, Weird Al's royalties are among the most complicated in the music industry.
- As a rule, all parody ideas are his, with one exception: "Like a Surgeon" came about from a comment Madonna made asking when he was going to turn "Like a Virgin" into that parody.
- During the height of his "Eat It" fame, he spoofed Michael Jackson's Pepsi sponsorship by appearing briefly in a Diet Coke commercial. The spot showed a figure from the back, in a "Thriller"-style jacket, who then turned to reveal it was Weird Al.
- One of the few artists to consistently turn down Weird Al's requests to do parodies has been Prince. Originally, Weird Al envisioned the centerpiece song "Beverly Hillbillies" in the movie UHF (1989) to be a parody of "Let's Go Crazy" and reportedly also wanted to do parodies of "When Doves Cry" and "Purple Rain". After years of asking, Weird Al tried a different tactic: he requested permission to parody one of Prince's videos (but not the song itself); to his surprise, approval was granted. Thus, the video for Weird Al's original song "UHF" includes a segment parodying Prince's bathtub sequence in the video for "When Doves Cry". Incidentally, Weird Al's song "Amish Paradise" contains the lyric "So tonight we're gonna party like it's 1699", a reference to Prince's single "1999".
- Along with the Hawaiian shirt and canvas shoes, his trademark look used to be glasses and a mustache. In 1997, he shaved off his mustache and underwent LASIK surgery to correct his nearsightedness, but his publicists insisted that he wear costume glasses and a fake mustache. In 1999, he decided that the costume was too annoying, and revealed his new look (reasoning that "if Madonna can change her look every time she puts out a new album, I can certainly change my look every ten years or so"). He still wears the costume glasses and mustache during some of his performances when he wants to recreate the classic Weird Al look.
- He wrote a parody of James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" called "You're Pitiful". After Blunt's record company, Atlantic Records, granted permission, Weird Al recorded the song, but then permission was revoked. Although he abided by the decision (the song isn't on his new album), Weird Al responded by putting the song on his MySpace page for free download, and there's a not-so-subtle snipe at Atlantic Records in the new music video "White and Nerdy".
- His 1984 song "I Lost on Jeopardy", a parody of Greg Kihn's 1983 #2 Pop hit "Our Love's In Jeopardy", referenced the original "Jeopardy" with Art Fleming as host. The game show ran from 1964-75 and was revived briefly during the 1978-79 season. A popular 1984 music video of the song featured Weird Al, his parents, Art Fleming, original announcer Don Pardo, Greg Kihn and Weird Al's mentor, the comedic novelty disc jockey, Dr. Demento. Interestingly, "Jeopardy" (1984), hosted by Alex Trebek, as we know it today, premiered in syndication, just three months after the records's release. Initialy, many viewers, at first, had mistaken "Jeopardy" (1984) the quiz show, which initially aired after midnight in many markets, for the then popular music video. At least, for the first several minutes.
- Got his first accordion lesson on October 22, 1966, one day before his seventh birthday.
- His official website, WeirdAl.com, is maintained by his longtime drummer, Jon Schwartz (a.k.a. "Bermuda" Schwartz).
- As of March 2000, he has had four gold and four platinum records in the United States, five gold, two platinum, and one double platinum record in Canada. He has also won two Grammy Awards and been nominated for eight more.
- Another person who turned down Weird Al's request for a parody was Yoko Ono. Weird Al approached Paul McCartney about parodying The Beatles song "Free as a Bird" with "Gee I'm a Nerd". McCartney turned the decision over to Ono, who told Weird Al she didn't feel comfortable with his parodying the song. "Gee I'm a Nerd" has since become a concert-only song (as have many Weird Al songs that never received a full blessing), and Weird Al has said that if he knows beforehand that Ono will be in the audience, then, out of respect for her, they won't play it.
- Became a father for the first time at age 43 when his wife Suzanne Yankovic gave birth to their daughter Nina Yankovic on February 11, 2003.
- His fourteenth studio album "Mandatory Fun" debuted at number one on the US album charts on July 22, 2014, becoming the first number one album of his 31 year career, as well as the first comedy album to top the US charts since 1963.
- Gives a special thanks to Dr. Demento (Barry Hansen) on each of his albums, since the radio disc jockey was the first to play his songs on the air.
- While he uses the original music in his parodies, it is not the original master track. He and his band take the original and transpose it by ear into a new key.
- Weird Al wrote the song "One More Minute" after being dumped by a then-girlfriend. He sought to remake this song as a duet with Frank Sinatra, but Sinatra declined Weird Al's invitation.
- His first song, "My Bologna" (a parody of The Knack's classic "My Sharona"), was recorded in a college bathroom. After being played on the "Dr. Demento Show" radio program, it caught the attention of Doug Fieger, lead singer of The Knack, and Fieger arranged for his record label to sign Weird Al for a short contract. The resulting single (now a collector's item) brought him to national attention, and "My Bologna" became Weird Al's first hit. Weird Al subsequently presented Fieger with a large bologna.
- Bill Mumy is mutual friends with Weird Al and his wife, and introduced them.
- Says his most frequent question by reporters is "Do you write any original songs?". The irony is that roughly half of his material (since his very first album) is original--sometimes parodying the *style* of an artist, but not based on any existing melody or lyrics.
- He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 6914 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on August 27, 2018.
- His paternal grandparents, Matt and Mary (Braj) Yankovic, were immigrants, with Matt being Slovenian and Mary being Croatian. His maternal grandfather, Alfred Vivalda, was an Italian immigrant, and his maternal grandmother, Fairy Kidwell, was born in Kentucky, and had English ancestry.
- Is longtime and devoted friends with the late George Harrison, whom he respected as a singer and songwriter. Weird Al wrote a parody of "Got My Mind Set on You", called "(This Song's Just) Six Words Long". Harrison even accepted his permission, therefore, it was released as a song off his album "Even Worse".
- Al skipped the second grade, which is partially how he graduated high school at a very young age.
- Has appeared in all three "Naked Gun" films: The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988), The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991) and Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994).
- Attended California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, where he majored in Architecture and graduated with honors. The Compleat Al (1985) includes an architectural rendering by Weird Al of a food-oriented city called "Burgeropolis".
- He was the subject of a 1999 episode of VH-1's Behind the Music (1997) documentary. Unlike other such celebrity documentaries in this series, his did not include any mention of alcoholism, drug abuse, divorce, gambling, religious cults or sexual escapades. Weird Al agreed to appear because, having created his own mock-biography in The Compleat Al (1985), he decided it would be fun to have someone do a serious biography on him.
- His album covers are frequently parodies as well: Michael Jackson's album "Bad" was spoofed as "Even Worse" (Weird Al even hired the same photo, artwork and wardrobe team to replicate the cover precisely); Nirvana's album "Nevermind" became "Off the Deep End" (with Al replicating the naked baby in the pool photo himself); and the Jurassic Park (1993) soundtrack was turned into "Alapalooza".
- Shortly after the release of the album "Straight Outta Lynwood", it was noted that Weird Al's trademark number 27 could be seen in the license plate on the car on the cover. Weird Al revealed that the number 27 is actually a homage to his mother, who was born on Feburary 7, 1923 (or 2/7/23).
- Inducted into the International Mustache Hall of Fame in the category Music & Arts (2016).
- Has directed music videos by other artists, notably "Only a Fool" by The Black Crowes, and "The River" by the boy-band Hanson (which was itself a parody of Titanic (1997)).
- His music video collection 'Weird Al' Yankovic: The Ultimate Video Collection (2003) went Platinum. (October 2005)
- Has had the same rock band since 1982.
- Along with his trademark song parodies, most of his albums include a track in which Al and his band perform polka-style (but lyrically faithful) renditions of popular hits (he is an accordionist, after all). Most of these have been eclectic medleys of recent hits, although the "Hot Rocks Polka" (from the UHF (1989) soundtrack) was a collection of The Rolling Stones hits, and the album "Alapalooza" featured a complete polka version of Queen's classic "Bohemian Rhapsody", called "Bohemian Polka".
- "Eat It" was his highest charting U.S. single on the Billboard Hot 100 for more than twenty years, until "White & Nerdy" broke into the Top 10.
- The contract that allows his records to be released by record companies outside the United States also grants permission for those companies to use other cover artwork. As a result, some truly bizarre covers have been produced, particularly in Japan and other non-English-speaking areas.
- Recorded his self-titled debut album at Cherokee Recording Studios (1982). The album sold over 500,000 copies.
- He parodied the video sequence to Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love" for the music video "UHF". 10 years after the release of "UHF", Shania Twain parodied the same idea for her music video "Man, I Feel Like a Woman".
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