“Weird Al” Yankovic

“Weird Al” Yankovic (born October 23, 1959, Downey, California, U.S.) is a musician and songwriter best known for his parodies of songs and music videos by other musicians. He gained national fame in 1984 with the song and music video for “Eat It,” a parody of Michael Jackson’s hit song “Beat It.” Whereas most novelty song artists have achieved only fleeting success, Yankovic has built a long and successful career as one of pop music’s most celebrated humorists.

Early life

Yankovic grew up in Lynwood, California, the only child of Nick Yankovic, a factory worker, and Mary (née Vivalda) Yankovic, who worked as a secretary and stenographer. In the liner notes to the compilation Permanent Record: Al in a Box (1994), Yankovic recalled that, when he was six years old, “A door-to-door salesman came through our neighborhood, trying to solicit business for a local music school. Kids were offered a choice between guitar lessons and accordion lessons. Since Frankie Yankovic (no relation) was America’s Polka King, my parents opted for accordion lessons, perhaps because they figured there should be at least one more accordion-playing Yankovic in the world.”

Growing up, Yankovic was an avid fan of Dr. Demento, a disc jockey with a nationally syndicated radio show that featured novelty and comedy songs. Yankovic’s favorite artists on the show included Spike Jones, Allan Sherman, and Shel Silverstein. He was also influenced by the British sketch comedy series Monty Python’s Flying Circus and pop musician Elton John. In 1973 Dr. Demento spoke at his high school, and Yankovic gave the disc jockey a cassette tape featuring some comical songs he had written. Three years later Yankovic sent him another tape, this one including the original song “Belvedere Cruising,” which Demento played on his show.

After graduating from high school at age 16, Yankovic pursued a degree in architecture at California Polytechnic State University. He began working as a disc jockey at the campus radio station, KCPR, using the nickname “Weird Al” as his on-air moniker. In 1979, during his junior year, he wrote “My Bologna,” a parody of the hit song “My Sharona” by the Knack. He recorded the accordion track for the song in the restroom across the hall from the KCPR studios, because he thought that the acoustics there were ideal. “My Bologna” was a huge hit on the Dr. Demento Show, and it also caught the attention of members of the Knack, who persuaded their label, Capitol Records, to release it as a single.

Career

After graduating from college in 1980, Yankovic moved to Los Angeles, where he worked in a mail room at a radio network and began performing in clubs and opening for other acts. He wrote more parody songs, such as “Another One Rides the Bus,” a parody of “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen and “I Love Rocky Road,” which is based on “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll” by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, originally recorded by the Arrows. Although the recording of parody songs is generally considered fair use according to U.S. copyright law, Yankovic made it a practice to seek permission from the original artists and songwriters to parody their songs.

In 1982 he signed with the Scotti Brothers Records label and released his first album, “Weird Al” Yankovic, in 1983. He also made his first music video, for the song “Ricky,” which debuted on the music video channel MTV. “Ricky” was a parody of Toni Basil’s 1981 hit song “Mickey” and a satiric tribute to the television comedy series I Love Lucy, with voice actress Tress MacNeille singing the part of Lucy Ricardo (who was portrayed by Lucille Ball on the show) and Yankovic singing as Ricky Ricardo (who was played by Desi Arnaz on the show).

In 1984 Yankovic released the single “Eat It,” which became a top 20 hit and earned Yankovic a Grammy Award for best comedy recording. A large part of the song’s success was its music video, a humorous shot-for-shot remake of Jackson’s video that recreated the original’s dance choreography, setting, and wardrobe, complete with Jackson’s iconic red leather jacket, glittery socks, and black penny loafers. The song appeared on Yankovic’s second album, “Weird Al” Yankovic in 3-D (1984), which also included the parody songs “I Lost on Jeopardy” (after “Jeopardy” by the Greg Kihn Band) and “The Brady Bunch” (after “The Safety Dance” by Men Without Hats). The album went platinum, selling more than a million copies.

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Yankovic’s third album, Dare to Be Stupid (1985), also went platinum and featured original songs, including the title track, and more parodies, such as “Like a Surgeon” (based on “Like a Virgin” by Madonna) and “Girls Just Want to Have Lunch” (after “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper). That same year, he released a mock documentary, or mockumentary, home video, The Compleat Al, as well as a book, The Authorized Al, both of which offered humorous, semi-fictional accounts of his life.

Yankovic’s next album, Polka Party! (1986), failed to sell as well as his first three albums. However, he achieved platinum sales again with the album Even Worse (1988), anchored by the song and video for “Fat,” a parody of Jackson’s song “Bad.” “Fat” earned Yankovic his second Grammy Award, for best concept music video. Also in 1988 he narrated a recording of the tale Peter and the Wolf, which was nominated for a Grammy for best children’s recording, and he had cameo roles in the films Tapeheads and The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! In 1989 he cowrote and starred in UHF, a comedy film about a television station manager who scores big ratings with wacky programming ideas.

In the years after UHF, Yankovic released eight more albums. He achieved double platinum sales for Bad Hair Day (1996), and he won the Grammy for best comedy album for Poodle Hat (2003) and for Mandatory Fun (2014). Mandatory Fun debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart, the first time a comedy album had topped the chart since 1963. His hit songs from this era include “Smells Like Nirvana” (1992), a parody of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” and “Amish Paradise” (1996), a spoof of Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise.” In 2006 Yankovic had his first top 10 hit with “White & Nerdy,” a parody of “Ridin’ ” by Chamillionaire, and he had a top 40 hit in 2014 with “Word Crimes”, which is based on “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke.

Apart from his musical projects, Yankovic wrote and starred in the children’s television series The Weird Al Show (1997). Additionally, he has written the children’s books When I Grow Up (2011) and My New Teacher and Me! (2013). He worked as a voice actor for several animated television shows and films, including the superhero television series Transformers: Animated (2008–09), the animated superhero film Batman vs. Robin (2015), the sketch comedy series Robot Chicken (2006–17), and the comedy series Milo Murphy’s Law (2016–19). In 2018 he won the Grammy for the best boxed or special limited-edition package for his album Squeeze Box: The Complete Works of “Weird Al” Yankovic (2017).

In 2001 Yankovic married marketing executive Suzanne Krajewski. The couple have a daughter, Nina, who was born in 2003.

The parody biographical film Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, which is loosely based on Yankovic’s life and career, premiered on the Roku Channel in 2022. The film was cowritten and coproduced by Yankovic and starred Daniel Radcliffe. In 2024 the film won an Emmy Award for outstanding television movie and an Emmy for outstanding music composition for a limited or anthology series, movie, or special.