"Weird Al" Yankovic

"Weird Al" and Fozzie Bear

The Muppets Mayhem

Yankovic with the Electric Mayhem at The Muppets Mayhem premiere party

"Weird Al" and Elmo backstage at Sesame Street Live at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles (2005).

Alfred Matthew Yankovic (b. 1959), widely known as "Weird Al" Yankovic, is a veteran comedy musician and acclaimed parody artist. With over a dozen albums, a career spanning more than four decades, and multiple Grammy awards, Yankovic is one of the best-known comedic musical performers in the world. Yankovic's albums have sold more than 13 million copies, making him the biggest-selling comedy artist in music history.

Appearances

• Yankovic was the subject of a feature article in the Fall 1984 issue of Muppet Magazine. In the article, titled "Wocka, Wocka! It's Weird Al Yankovic!", he was interviewed by fellow comedy legend Fozzie Bear. Yankovic talks about his start in performing, breaking into the music industry, and his view on his success. Fozzie states that his favorite of Yankovic's parodies is "Eat It" (a parody of Michael Jackson's "Beat It"). The article was later republished in the book The Best of Muppet Magazine.

• In 2005, Yankovic attended a Sesame Street Live show at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles (his daughter was two at the time) where he posed for a photo backstage with Elmo. His website captions the photo, "one of his many show biz friends." [1]

• Yankovic appeared virtually with several celebrities singing "Rainbow Connection" with Kermit the Frog in the June 2020 "Soundtrack of Our Lives" YouTube special.

• Yankovic appeared in The Muppets Mayhem episode "Break On Through" as part of Floyd's marshmallow-induced psychedelic trip.

References

• Clips from the music video for Yankovic's 1984 song "Eat It" were featured in the Muppet Babies episode "Twinkle Toe Muppets".

• Interviewed for NME in October 2022, Kermit the Frog was asked, "If you could challenge any celebrity to a competition, what would it be?" Kermit replied,

“I’d challenge Weird Al Yankovic to a yodelling competition. I don’t know why, but there’s something about saying ‘Weird Al’ and ‘yodelling’ in the same sentence that makes me happy.”

Muppet Mentions

• Yankovic's 1985 song "Yoda", a parody of "Lola" by the Kinks about the Star Wars character Yoda, features a minor Muppet mention:

“Well, I've been around, but I ain't never seen a guy who looks like a Muppet, but he's wrinkled and green.”

• Weird Al's 1999 promotional television special "ALTV" on MTV featured an Al News segment where Yankovic announced the long-winded title of Fiona Apple's new CD. The fictional album title included a reference to the Sesame Street song "C is for Cookie".

“Hot on the heels of latest efforts, Fiona Apple has released yet another album. This one's called "I think I will never see a poem as lovely as a tree, chapter one call me Ishmael, some years ago never mind how long precisely having little or no money in my purse, hey who took my rice cakes, does anybody have a watch, what time is it, does anybody really know what time it is, does anybody really care, well it was the best of times it was the worst of times, cause all we are is dust in the wind, and did you ever think how like maybe our entire universe is really just a molecule in God's toenail, this world is a bunch of B.S. anyway, the important thing to remember is be your own person wear what you want to wear, if you feel good in a tube top you go girl, lather rinse repeat lather rinse repeat, I need to get toilet paper orange juice sunflower seeds Pepto-Bismol and more rice cakes, don't forget dentist appointment at 2:30, dear Cosmo my boyfriend won't leave me alone when I'm trying to come up with a album title, cut it out Paul, I'm trying to write here, I mean it cut it out, would you get the phone I'm busy, C is for cookie and that's good enough for me, shemalama ding-dong yabba dabba do zippidy do da zippidy ay, if you believe in peanut butter clap your hands, does this dress make me look fat, I'm not going to pay a lot for this muffler" - on sale Tuesday.”

• As a connoisseur of pop-culture, "Weird Al" has declared his inner-Muppet inclinations on several occasions, including a December 26, 1999 Launch.com chat:

Beavinator1: Al, if you were one of the Muppets which one would you be?

"Weird Al": LOL. I suppose Beaker.

• Yankovic's 2003 song "Couch Potato", a parody of Eminem's "Lose Yourself", features a reference to The Muppet Show in the lyrics:

“Then I bet I'll watch The Bachelorette followed by Welcome Back, Kotter and The Muppet Show where they go "Mah Na Mah Na".”

• Page 29 of Weird Al: The Book mentions that Yankovic's drummer, Jon "Bermuda" Swartz, is not like the average drummer, stating that drummers are "supposed to be like Animal from The Muppet Show."

• On June 16, 2014, Yankovic appeared on Epic Rap Battles of History as Sir Isaac Newton where he went head to head with Bill Nye (portrayed by Nice Peter) and Neil deGrasse Tyson (portrayed by Chali 2na). In the first verse, Yankovic sang, "Of all the scientific minds in history, they put Beaker in a bow tie up against me?"

• Speaking with NPR's Tamara Keith in 2014, Yankovic commented on other pop culture parodies:

NPR: There was a time the "Weird Al" parody was it. And now, Cookie Monster has done a version of Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe."

Yankovic: Yeah, Cookie Monster is my No. 1 competition right now. Actually, I don't view it as a competition at all. I think it's wonderful that there's a level playing field now.

Notes

• One of Yankovic's music videos (for the song "You Don't Love Me Anymore") was filmed at Charlie Chaplin Studios in Los Angeles, California; a studio that was later purchased by The Jim Henson Company.

• In 1994, he wrote the song "Bedrock Anthem" (a parody of two Red Hot Chili Peppers songs) for the feature film The Flintstones, which included characters and effects by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. Although the song was not heard in the film, it was released on the film's soundtrack and Yankovic's album Alapalooza.

Connections

Artists Parodied:

• "Livin' on the Edge" by Aerosmith was parodied as "Livin' in the Fridge" (1993)
• "I Want it That Way" by Backstreet Boys was parodied as "eBay" (2002)
• "You're Beautiful" by James Blunt was parodied as "You're Pitiful" (2006)
• "Party in the USA" by Miley Cyrus was parodied as "Party in the CIA" (2011)
• "Gangsta's Paradise" by Coolio was parodied as "Amish Paradise" (1996)
• "She Drives Me Crazy" by Fine Young Cannibals was parodied as "She Drives Like Crazy" (1989)
• "Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits (featuring Mark Knopfler) was combined with The Beverly Hillbillies theme as "Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies" (1989)
• "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga was parodied as "Perform This Way" (2011)
• "Rico Suave" by Gerardo was parodied as "Taco Grande" (1992)
• "I Got My Mind Set on You" by George Harrison was parodied as "This Song is Just Six Words Long" (1988)
• "Bad" by Michael Jackson was parodied as "Fat" (1988)
• "Beat It" by Michael Jackson was parodied as "Eat It" (1984)
• "Ruthless People" by Mick Jagger was parodied as "Toothless People" (1986)
• "Piano Man" by Billy Joel was parodied as "Ode to a Superhero" (2002)
• "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper was parodied as "Girls Just Want to Have Lunch" (1985)
• "Stand" by R.E.M.'s was parodied as "Spam" (1989)

Song Subjects:

• Forrest Gump was the subject of Yankovic's song and music video "Gump" (1996)
• George of the Jungle was the subject of Yankovic's song "George of the Jungle" (1985)
• The Phantom Menace was the subject of Yankovic's song "The Saga Begins" (1999)
• Spider-Man was the subject of Yankovic's song "Ode to a Superhero" (2002)
• The Star Wars character Yoda was the subject of Yankovic's song "Yoda" (1985)
• "Bohemian Rhapsody" was covered as "Bohemian Polka" (1993)

Celebrities:

• Diedrich Bader voiced the Grizzly Narrator in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022)
• Jack Black appeared in Yankovic's "Tacky" music video (2014) and played Wolfman Jack in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022)
• Ruth Buzzi appeared in Yankovic's "Gump" music video (1996)
• Margaret Cho appeared in Yankovic's "Tacky" music video (2014)
• Dick Clark appeared in The Compleat Al (1985) and The Weird Al Show (1997)
• Cher was "interviewed" in AL-TV 2K (1999)
• Eddie Deezen provided the voice of "The Guy Boarded Into the Wall" on The Weird Al Show (1997)
• Snoop Dogg was "interviewed" in AL-TV 2K (1999)
• Fran Drescher played Pamela in Yankovic's film UHF (1989)
• Stan Freberg was a cast member of The Weird Al Show (1997)
• Gilbert Gottfried appeared on The Weird Al Show (1997)
• Seth Green appeared in Yankovic's "White and Nerdy" music video (2006) and voiced a radio DJ in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022)
• Tony Hawk appeared in Yankovic's "Smells Like Nirvana" music video (1992)
• Florence Henderson appeared in Yankovic's "Amish Paradise" music video (1996)
• Mark Knopfler played guitar on the audio recording of Yankovic's "Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies" (1989)
• Cheech Marin appeared in Yankovic's song "Taco Grande" (1992)
• Michael McKean appeared on The Weird Al Show (1997) and played the Sleazy MC in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022)
• Keegan-Michael Key appeared in Yankovic's "White and Nerdy" music video (2006)
• Lin-Manuel Miranda played an ER doctor in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022)
• Conan O'Brien played Andy Warhol in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022)
• Donny Osmond appeared in Yankovic's "White and Nerdy" music video (2006)
• Patton Oswalt played a heckler in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022)
• Don Pardo appeared on Yankovic's song "I Lost on Jeopardy" (1984)
• Eddie Pepitone appeared in Yankovic's "Handy" music video (2014)
• Jordan Peele appeared in Yankovic's "White and Nerdy" music video (2006)
• Daniel Radcliffe played Yankovic in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022)
• Phil Ramone appeared in The Compleat Al (1985)
• Michael Richards co-starred in Yankovic's film UHF (1989)
• Randy Savage appeared as himself in The Weird Al Show episode "Al Gets Robbed" (1997)
• Kristen Schaal appeared in Yankovic's "Tacky" music video (2014)
• Bart Simpson appeared in Yankovic's song "Phony Calls" (1996)
• Jessica Simpson was "interviewed" in an AL-TV special (2006)
• Patrick Stewart was "interviewed" in Yankovic's web series Face to Face (2011)
• Eric Stonestreet appeared in Yankovic's "Tacky" music video (2014)
• Michael Stripe was "interviewed" in AL-TV 2K (1999)
• Alex Trebek appeared on The Weird Al Show (1997)
• Gedde Watanabe played Kuni in Yankovic's film UHF (1989) and on The Weird Al Show (1997)
• Nina West played Divine in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022)
• Fred Willard appeared on The Weird Al Show (1997)
• Evan Rachel Wood played Madonna in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022)

External links

• Official site
• "Weird Al" on Twitter
• "Weird Al" on MySpace
• "Weird Al" on Facebook
• "Weird Al" on YouTube