Biography!
This Biography was taken from Al’s website.
“Weird Al” Yankovic, the undisputed king of pop culture parody, has sold more comedy recordings than any other artist in history. In a career spanning nearly three decades, he has amassed 28 Gold and Platinum albums, 7 Gold and Platinum-certified home videos and 3 Grammy Awards (with 9 nominations).
The singer-songwriter’s first real brush with fame came in 1979 when he
recorded "My Bologna" (a spoof of The Knack's "My Sharona")
in the bathroom across the hall from his college campus radio station where he
had a weekly DJ shift. A devoteé of musical satirists Spike Jones, Tom Lehrer,
Allan Sherman and Stan Freberg, Yankovic's budding career took off when the
song became a sensation on the nationally syndicated "Dr. Demento
Show." Just a few years later, Al landed his first recording contract and
has since created an extraordinary legacy of music and ground-breaking videos,
including hits like "Eat It," "Like A Surgeon" and
"Amish Paradise."
An accomplished director, Al has helmed many of his own award-winning
music videos as well as clips for Ben Folds, Jeff Foxworthy, The Jon Spencer
Blues Explosion, Hanson and The Black Crowes. His video for “Smells Like
Nirvana,” nominated for an MTV Video Music Award in 1992, was chosen by Rolling
Stone as one of the “Top 100 Music Videos Of All Time.” Al also created the
critically acclaimed title sequence for the Leslie Nielsen feature film “Spy
Hard.”
Making a successful transformation from pop music satirist to
multimedia star, Al created his own television specials for MTV (“AL-TV”),
Showtime and the Disney Channel, among others. His feature film “UHF” (1989)
became an instant Top Ten best-selling DVD upon its release in 2002, and his
CBS network series “The Weird Al Show” reached cult-classic status and was
released on DVD earlier this year. Al has been featured on numerous TV shows
and specials, and his profile on VH-1’s “Behind the Music” remains one of the
most popular installments in the history of the series.
Yankovic’s 12th studio album Straight Outta Lynwood (Way
Moby/Volcano) is a DualDisc release brimming with special features. The DVD
side contains six brand new Weird Al music videos produced by some of the
world’s top animators, including Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Bill
Plympton, “Ren & Stimpy” creator John Kricfalusi, acclaimed media artist
Jim Blashfield, the creative team behind Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim show
“Robot Chicken” and popular Internet animators Thomas Lee and David C. Lovelace.
The package also features a 9-minute behind-the-scenes documentary, as well as
PCM Stereo, 5.1 Surround Sound and karaoke/instrumental versions of the entire
album.
The centerpiece of Straight Outta Lynwood is “White &
Nerdy,” a parody of Chamillionaire’s No. 1 smash hit “Ridin’.” Al directed the
highly-acclaimed video clip, which features hilarious cameos by Donny Osmond,
Seth Green, Judy Tenuta and Mad TV’s Keegan-Michael Keys and Jordan
Peele. The “White & Nerdy” video went straight into heavy rotation on VH-1
(debuting at #5 in their Top 20 Countdown) and quickly racked up a few million
hits on YouTube.
Straight Outta Lynwood also features parodies of
Green Day (“Canadian Idiot”), Usher (“Confessions Part III”), Taylor Hicks (“Do
I Creep You Out”) and R. Kelly (the 11-minute epic “Trapped in the
Drive-Thru”), as well as the now-traditional polka medley (“Polkarama!”), which
this time includes accordion-fueled renditions of hits by such artists as 50
Cent, The Black Eyed Peas, Snoop Dogg, Coldplay, Weezer, Pussycat Dolls and
Kanye West.
“Don’t Download This Song,” the first song and video released from the
album, is a tongue-in-cheek look at the hot-button issue of mp3 piracy, set to
original music inspired by the celebrity-driven charity benefit songs from the
‘80s. The song was ironically offered as a free download on Al’s web site
(weirdal.com) and MySpace page (myspace.com/weirdal), and quickly became a viral worldwide hit.
Other original compositions on the album include an homage to both Brian Wilson
and internal organs (“Pancreas”), an ode to computer-based paranoia (“Virus
Alert”), a headbanger about frivolous lawsuits (“I’ll Sue Ya”), an anthem for
the relationship-impaired (“Close But No Cigar”) and a cheery ditty about the
most festive time of the year (“Weasel Stomping Day”).
Straight Outta Lynwood debuted at #10 on the
Billboard charts, making it Al’s highest charting album to date.
“Weird Al” Yankovic and his band (the same talented group of musicians
that has performed with him since 1982) will be embarking on their next major
North American concert tour in the summer of 2007.