Weird Al Trivia | 87 facts about the famous singer

“Weird Al” Yankovic, is an American singer who is known for humorous songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts.

So let’s dive into some trivia and facts about his life and career.

1. His full name is Alfred Matthew Yankovic
2. He was born on October 23, 1959
3. He is known professionally as “Weird Al” Yankovic
4. He is an American singer, musician, and actor
5. Weird Al is best known for humorous songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts
6. He also performs original songs that are style pastiches of the work of other acts
7. As well as polka medleys of several popular songs
8. Most of which feature his trademark accordion
9. Since having a comedy song aired in 1976, Yankovic has sold more than 12 million albums (as of 2007)
10. He has recorded more than 150 parodies and original songs
11. He has performed more than 1,000 live shows
12. His work has earned him five Grammy Awards
13. And a further 11 nominations
14. He has earned four gold records, and six platinum records in the U.S
15. His first top ten Billboard album (Straight Outta Lynwood) and single (“White & Nerdy”) were both released in 2006
16. Nearly three decades into his career
17. His latest album, Mandatory Fun (2014), became his first number-one album during its debut week
18. Yankovic’s success comes in part from his effective use of music videos to further parody pop culture, the song’s original artist, and the original music videos themselves
19. Scene-for-scene in some cases
20. He directed later videos himself and went on to direct for other artists
21. He has directed Ben Folds, Hanson, the Black Crowes, and the Presidents of the United States of America
22. With the decline of music television and the onset of social media, he used YouTube and other video sites to publish his videos
23. This strategy helped to boost sales of his later albums
24. He has stated that he may forgo traditional albums in favor of timely releases of singles from the 2010s onwards
25. In addition to recording his albums, Yankovic wrote and starred in the film UHF (1989) and the television series The Weird Al Show (1997)
26. He has also made guest appearances and performed voice acting roles on many television shows and video web content
27. In addition to starring in Al TV specials on MTV
28. He has also written two children’s books, When I Grow Up (2011) and My New Teacher and Me! (2013)
29. Yankovic was born in Downey, California, on October 23, 1959
30. He is the only child of Mary Elizabeth and Nick Yankovic
31. He was raised in Lynwood, California
32. His father, who was born in the Strawberry Hill neighborhood of Kansas City, Kansas
33. He was of Yugoslavian descent
34. The original surname spelling being Janković
35. His father began living in California after earning two Purple Hearts for his service as a medic during World War II
36. He believed “the key to success” was “doing for a living whatever makes you happy” and often reminded his son of this philosophy
37. Yankovic’s mother, a stenographer of English and Italian descent, married his father in 1949
38. She came to California from Kentucky a decade before Yankovic was born
39. Yankovic’s first accordion lesson, which sparked his interest in music, took place on the day before his seventh birthday
40. A door-to-door salesman traveling through Lynwood offered his parents a choice of accordion or guitar lessons at a local music school
41. Yankovic claims that his parents chose the accordion over the guitar because “they figured there should be at least one more accordion-playing Yankovic in the world”
42. He has also said that they chose the accordion because “they were convinced it would revolutionize rock”
43. As his mother did not let him outside the house very often, he had plenty of time to practice the instrument at home
44. He continued lessons at the school for three years before deciding to learn on his own
45. In the 1970s, Yankovic was a big fan of Elton John and claims John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album was partly how he “learned to play rock ‘n roll on the accordion”
46. As for his influences in comedy and parody music, he listed artists including Tom Lehrer, Stan Freberg, Spike Jones, Allan Sherman, Shel Silverstein, and Frank Zappa, as well as “all the other wonderfully sick and twisted artists” he found through The Dr. Demento Radio Show
47. Other sources of inspiration for his comedy came from Mad magazine, Monty Python and the Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker movies
48. He had also enjoyed George Carlin’s FM & AM comedy album so much that he transcribed it by typewriter.
49. Yankovic began kindergarten a year earlier than most children and skipped second grade, later saying, “My classmates seemed to think I was some kind of rocket scientist, so I was labeled a nerd early on”
50. He attended Lynwood High School
51. There his unusual schooling experience meant he was two years younger than most of his classmates
52. He was not interested in sports or social events but was active in extracurricular programs
53. Including the National Forensic League-sanctioned public speaking events, a play based on Rebel Without a Cause, the yearbook, for which he wrote most of the captions and the Volcano Worshippers club
54. He graduated in 1975
55. He was valedictorian of his senior class
56. He attended California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo
57. There he earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture
58. Yankovic became a vegetarian in 1992
59. His then-girlfriend gave him a copy of the 1987 John Robbins book Diet for a New America, which he said “made a very compelling argument for a strict vegetarian diet”
60. When asked how he can rationalize performing shows at events such as the Great American Rib Cook-Off as a vegetarian, he replied, “The same way I can rationalize playing at a college even though I’m not a student anymore”
61. In a 2011 interview with OnMilwaukee, he clarified his stance on his diet: “I am still a vegetarian, and I try to be a vegan, but I occasionally cheat. If there’s a cheese pizza on the band bus, I might sneak a piece”
62. Yankovic married Suzanne Krajewski, a marketing executive with 20th Century Fox
63. They met in 2001
64. They were introduced to each other by their mutual friend Bill Mumy
65. Their daughter, Nina, was born in 2003
66. They live in Los Angeles, where they own a home previously owned by figures such as writer Jack S. Margolis and rapper Heavy D
67. In stark contrast to his stage persona, Yankovic is known by friends and associates to be polite, shy, and introverted, even among family
68. He is a Christian
69. A married couple from the church he attends can be seen in the background on the cover of his album Poodle Hat
70. His religious upbringing is reflected in his abstinence from profanity, alcohol, and drugs
71. On April 9, 2004, Yankovic’s parents were found dead at their home in Fallbrook, California
72. They were the victims of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning from their fireplace
73. Hours after his wife notified him of this, he made the decision to go on with his concert in Appleton, Wisconsin
74. Their deaths occurred following the release of Poodle Hat, which was Yankovic’s lowest-selling album in 20 years
75. He considered the Appleton show and subsequent tour dates therapeutic
76. In a 2014 interview, he cited the deaths of his parents as the worst thing that had ever happened to him
77. With “Word Crimes” from Mandatory Fun debuted at No. 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2014
78. Yankovic became the third musical artist after Michael Jackson and Madonna to have a song in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 over each decade since the 1980s
79. His other Top 40 songs being “Eat It”, “Smells Like Nirvana”, and “White & Nerdy”
80. Since then, only U2 and Kenny G have also entered this group
81. Billboard named Yankovic #15 of the top 100 music video artists of all time in an August 2020 compilation
82. With his four-decade career, Yankovic’s work has also influenced newer artists
83. Andy Samberg of the group The Lonely Island considered Yankovic an influence during his childhood
84. Lin-Manuel Miranda directly credits Yankovic as an influence on his musical Hamilton
85. Television producer Michael Schur considered that Yankovic’s music represented a “deep egalitarian spirit of our culture” that allowed his comedy writers to reflect on society within his shows
86. In 2020, Mark Riedl, a researcher at Georgia Tech, created an algorithm that generates lyrics to match the rhyme and syllable schemes of preexisting songs
87. The algorithm was called “Weird A.I. Yankovic” in reference to Yankovic’s similar song parodies