Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor, and author.
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38 Facts About "Weird Al" Yankovic
2.
Since having a comedy song aired on The Dr Demento Radio Show in 1976 at the age of 16, Yankovic has sold more than 12 million albums, recorded more than 150 parodies and original songs, and performed more than 1,000 live shows.
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3.
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic was born in Downey, California, on October 23,1959, the only child of Mary Elizabeth and Nick "Weird Al" Yankovic.
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4.
On September 14,1980, "Weird Al" Yankovic was a guest on the Dr Demento Show, where he was to record a new parody live.
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5.
In 1983, "Weird Al" Yankovic's first self-titled album was released on Scotti Bros.
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6.
In 1985, "Weird Al" Yankovic co-wrote and starred in a mockumentary of his own life titled The Compleat Al, which intertwined the facts of his life up to that point with fiction.
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7.
In 1988, "Weird Al" Yankovic was the narrator on the Wendy Carlos recording of Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf.
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8.
The album included a sequel to Camille Saint-Saens's composition The Carnival of the Animals, titled "The Carnival of the Animals Part II", with "Weird Al" Yankovic providing humorous poems for each of the featured creatures in the style of Ogden Nash, who had written humorous poems for the original.
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9.
Again, "Weird Al" Yankovic fell into a mood and delayed release of Off the Deep End without a lead parody.
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10.
On January 24,1998, "Weird Al" Yankovic had LASIK eye surgery to correct his extreme myopia.
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11.
The album as a whole reached No 10 in the Billboard 200, and by 2008 was "Weird Al" Yankovic's first certified platinum album, having reached over one million sales.
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12.
On October 7,2008, Yankovic released to the iTunes Store "Whatever You Like", a parody of the T I song of the same title, which Yankovic said he had come up with two weeks before.
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13.
In 2011, "Weird Al" Yankovic completed his thirteenth studio album, titled Alpocalypse, which was released on June 21,2011.
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14.
In writing his parodies as well as his original songs, "Weird Al" Yankovic spends a great deal of time in deciding the right words that not only match the beat of the original song but that fit theme of the parody.
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15.
RCA Records opted not to fund production of any of these videos, and "Weird Al" Yankovic turned to various social media portals including Funny or Die and CollegeHumor which he had worked with in the past; these sites helped to cover the production cost of the videos with "Weird Al" Yankovic foregoing any ad video revenue.
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16.
ABC World News elaborated that "Weird Al" Yankovic's success is in part due to the Internet's interest in viral and humorous videos catching up with what "Weird Al" Yankovic has been doing for his entire career.
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17.
However, as a personal rule and as a means of maintaining good relationships, "Weird Al" Yankovic has always sought permission from the original artist before commercially releasing a parody.
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18.
Separately, "Weird Al" Yankovic needs to negotiate for royalties to the original artists for including their songs within a polka medley, which is considered a cover in copyright law.
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19.
Many artists parodied by "Weird Al" Yankovic have considered this as a rite of passage to show they have made it in the music industry.
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20.
In 2008, Yankovic directed the music video for their song "Mixed Up S O B ".
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21.
In 2006, "Weird Al" Yankovic gained James Blunt's permission to record a parody of "You're Beautiful".
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22.
However, after "Weird Al" Yankovic had recorded "You're Pitiful", Blunt's label, Atlantic Records, rescinded this permission, despite Blunt's personal approval of the song.
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24.
Television producer Michael Schur considered that "Weird Al" Yankovic's music represented a "deep egalitarian spirit of our culture" that allowed his comedy writers to reflect on society within his shows.
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26.
Weird Al Show was a live-action skit-based children's show hosted by "Weird Al" Yankovic, airing from September to December 1997 on CBS, which featured several actors and bands as guests along with "Weird Al" Yankovic and other actors.
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27.
The project included a brief cameo by Sir Paul McCartney, which "Weird Al" Yankovic directed during McCartney's appearance at the 2009 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
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28.
On January 25,2010, "Weird Al" Yankovic announced that he had signed a production deal with Warner Bros.
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29.
The book allows "Weird Al" Yankovic to apply the humorous writing style found in his music in another medium, allowing him to use puns and rhymes.
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30.
In 2009, "Weird Al" Yankovic was a special guest on an episode of G4's Web Soup where he came as Mark Gormley at first.
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31.
In 2011, "Weird Al" Yankovic guest starred as the character "Banana Man" in an episode of Adventure Time.
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32.
On May 31,2014, "Weird Al" Yankovic won the ACE Award from the National Cartoonists Society at its awards banquet in San Diego.
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33.
From 2014 until 2017, "Weird Al" Yankovic appeared as a celebrity contestant in eight episodes of the game show Celebrity Name Game.
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34.
In 2015, "Weird Al" Yankovic made an appearance on an episode of The Odd Couple as a yoga student in the class Felix takes over for one day.
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35.
Also in 2015, "Weird Al" Yankovic was featured as MAD Magazine's first ever guest editor for their 533rd issue.
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36.
However, "Weird Al" Yankovic was not included on the list of inductees for 2007.
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37.
The campaign raised the new target each time and applications continued to be submitted yearly, until The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce announced in June 2017 that "Weird Al" Yankovic would receive a star on the Walk of Fame as one of the 2018 inductees.
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38.
Previous attempts to raise awareness for the campaign and support "Weird Al" Yankovic's nomination included a petition drive from 2006 to 2007, which raised over 9000 signatures; an art competition in 2005; additionally, a documentary film about the campaign is currently being developed.
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