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Yankovic's numerous television appearances include his popular AL-TV programs for MTV and VH-1, his concert specials for Comedy Central and the Disney Channel, and his Saturday morning series The Weird Al Show for CBS. Learn 50 interesting things about "Weird Al" Yankovic.
1. "Weird Al" Yankovic is a comedy recording artist, best known for hit song parodies such as "Amish Paradise," "Eat It" and "White & Nerdy."
2. A three-time Grammy Award winner, Yankovic caught his first big break after sending in an unsolicited tape to the Dr. Demento Radio Show.
3. The song, a parody of The Knack's "My Sharona" called "My Bologna" (recorded in the bathroom of Al's college campus radio station), was a smash on the good Doctor's show and became Al's first national record release.
4. Inspired by the likes of Stan Freberg, Tom Lehrer and Mad magazine, Weird Al has parodied numerous musical icons throughout a career that now spans four decades.
5. Michael Jackson, Queen, Eminem, Madonna, U2, Billy Joel, Nirvana, Mick Jagger and Lady Gaga are just a few of the artists who have agreed to have their songs satirized by Yankovic.
6. His last two albums Straight Outta Lynwood (2006) and Alpocalypse (2011) both debuted in the Billboard Top Ten.
7. The video for his platinum single "White & Nerdy" dominated the Internet and stayed at #1 on the iTunes chart for months.
8. In addition to writing and directing his own music videos (and a few for other artists as well), Yankovic has helmed a number of eclectic projects, including the web series Face to Face, the interactive fair attraction Al's Brain in 3-D and the opening sequence for the Leslie Nielsen film Spy Hard.
9. He made an appearance in all three Naked Gun movies, and also co-wrote and starred in the cult classic film UHF (1989).
10. Yankovic's numerous television appearances include his popular AL-TV programs for MTV and VH-1, his concert specials for Comedy Central and the Disney Channel, and his Saturday morning series The Weird Al Show for CBS.
11. Al also added "New York Times bestselling author" to his resume with the release of his 2011 children's book When I Grow Up and its 2013 follow-up My New Teacher and Me!
12. Weird Al has performed over 1,300 concerts to date and continues to tour the world with his band.
13. He is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts, original songs that are style pastiches of the work of other acts, and polka medleys of several popular songs, featuring his favored instrument, the accordion.
14. Since his first-aired comedy song in 1976, he has sold more than 12 million albums (as of 2007), recorded more than 150 parody and original songs, and has performed more than 1,000 live shows.
15. Weird Al's first top ten Billboard album (Straight Outta Lynwood) and single ("White & Nerdy") were both released in 2006, nearly three decades into his career.
16. His latest album, Mandatory Fun (2014), became his first number-one album on its debut week.
17. Weird Al's success comes in part from his effective use of music video to further parody popular culture, the song's original artist, and the original music videos themselves, scene-for-scene in some cases.
18. He directed later videos himself and went on to direct for other artists including Ben Folds, Hanson, The Black Crowes, and The Presidents of the United States of America.
19. With the decline of music television and the onset of social media, Weird Al used YouTube and other video sites to publish his videos; this strategy proved integral helping to boost sales of his later albums including Mandatory Fun.
20. Weird Al has stated that he may forgo traditional albums in favor of timely releases of singles and EPs following on this success.
21. In addition to recording his albums, Weird Al wrote and starred in the film UHF (1989) and The Weird Al Show (1997).
22. He has also made guest appearances and voice acting roles on many television shows and video web content, in addition to starring in Al TV specials on MTV.
23. Yankovic was born in Downey, California and raised in Lynwood, California.
24. He is the only child of Nick and Mary Yankovic.
25. His father was born in Kansas City, Kansas, of Yugoslavian descent, and began living in California after serving during World War II; he believed "the key to success" was "doing for a living whatever makes you happy" and often reminded his son of this philosophy.
26. Nick Yankovic married Mary Elizabeth Vivalda in 1949.
27. Mary, who was of Italian and English descent, had come to California from Kentucky, and gave birth to Alfred ten years later.
28. Al's first accordion lesson, which sparked his career in music, was on the day before his sixth birthday.
29. A door-to-door salesman traveling through Lynwood offered the Yankovic parents a choice of accordion or guitar lessons at a local music school.
30. Yankovic claims the reason his parents chose accordion over guitar was "they figured there should be at least one more accordion-playing Yankovic in the world", referring to Frankie Yankovic, to whom he is not related directly.
31. He continued lessons at the school for three years before continuing to learn on his own.
32. Yankovic's early accordion role models included Frankie Yankovic and Myron Floren.
33. In the 1970s, Yankovic was a big fan of Elton John and claims John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album "was partly how I learned to play rock 'n roll on the accordion."
34. As for his influences in comedic and parody music, Yankovic lists artists including Tom Lehrer, Stan Freberg, Spike Jones, Allan Sherman, Shel Silverstein and Frank Zappa "and all the other wonderfully sick and twisted artists that he was exposed to through the Dr. Demento Radio Show."
35. Other sources of inspiration for his comedy come from Mad magazine, Monty Python, and the Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker parody movies.
36. Yankovic began kindergarten a year earlier than most children, and he skipped second grade.
37. As his unusual schooling left him two years younger than most of his classmates, Yankovic was not interested in sports or social events at school.
38. Yankovic was active in his school's extracurricular programs, including the National Forensic League sanctioned speech events, a play based upon Rebel Without a Cause, the yearbook (for which he wrote most of the captions), and the Volcano Worshippers club, "which did absolutely nothing. We started the club just to get an extra picture of ourselves in the yearbook."
39. Weird Al graduated in 1975 and was valedictorian of his senior class.
40. Yankovic attended California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo where he earned a bachelor's degree in architecture.
41. 1981 brought Yankovic on tour for the first time as part of Dr. Demento's stage show.
42. His stage act in a Phoenix, Arizona, nightclub caught the eye of manager Jay Levey, who was "blown away".
43. Levey asked Yankovic if he had considered creating a full band and doing his music as a career. Yankovic admitted that he had, so Levey held auditions.
44. Steve Jay became Yankovic's bass player, and Jay's friend Jim West played guitar. Schwartz continued on drums.
45. Yankovic's first show with his new band was on March 31, 1982. Several days later, Yankovic and his band were the opening act for Missing Persons.
46. Yankovic changed his diet to become a vegan in 1992 after a former girlfriend gave him the book Diet for a New America and he felt "it made [...] a very compelling argument for a strict vegetarian diet."
47. When asked how he can "rationalize" performing at events such as the Great American Rib Cook-Off when he is a vegan, he replied, "The same way I can rationalize playing at a college even though I'm not a student anymore."
48. Yankovic married Suzanne Krajewski in 2001 after being introduced by their common friend Bill Mumy.
49. Their daughter, Nina, was born in 2003.
50. Yankovic identifies as Christian and has stated that a couple from his church appeared on the cover of Poodle Hat. Yankovic's religious background is reflected in his abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, drugs, and profanity.
Source: facebook.com/weirdal
