"Weird Al" Yankovic facts for kids

Quick facts for kids "Weird Al" Yankovic
Yankovic performing in 2010
Background information
Birth name	Alfred Matthew Yankovic
Born	(1959-10-23) October 23, 1959 (age 65) Downey, California, U.S.
Origin	Lynwood, California, U.S.
Genres	Comedy parody polka geek rock
Occupations	Singer songwriter musician record producer actor author
Instruments	Vocals accordion keyboards
Years active	1976 (1976)–present
Labels	Rock 'n Roll Capitol Placebo TK Scotti Brothers Way Moby Volcano RCA

Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic (/ˈjæŋkəvɪk/ yang-KƏ-vik; born October 23, 1959) is an American musician best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specific songs by contemporary musicians. He also performs original songs that are style pastiches of the work of other acts, as well as polka medleys of several popular songs, most of which feature his trademark accordion.

Since having a comedy song aired on The Dr. Demento Radio Show in 1976 at age 16, Yankovic has sold more than 12 million albums (as of 2015^[update]), recorded more than 150 parodies and original songs, and performed more than 1,000 live shows. His work has earned him five Grammy Awards and a further 11 nominations, four gold records and six platinum records in the U.S. His first top ten Billboard album (Straight Outta Lynwood) and single ("White & Nerdy") were both released in 2006, nearly three decades into his career. His latest album, Mandatory Fun (2014), became his first number-one album during its debut week.

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, scene-for-scene in some cases. 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. With the decline of music television and the onset of social media, he used YouTube and other video sites to publish his videos; this strategy helped boost sales of his later albums. Yankovic has stated that he may forgo traditional albums in favor of timely releases of singles from the 2010s onward.

In addition to recording his albums, Yankovic wrote and starred in the film UHF (1989) and the television series The Weird Al Show (1997). He has produced two satirical films about his own life, The Compleat Al (1985) and Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022). He has made guest appearances and performed voice acting roles on many television shows and video web content, in addition to starring in Al TV specials on MTV. He has also written two children's books, When I Grow Up (2011) and My New Teacher and Me! (2013).

Early life

Alfred Matthew Yankovic was born in Downey, California, on October 23, 1959, the only child of Mary Elizabeth (née Vivalda) and Nick Yankovic. He was raised in nearby Lynwood, California. His father, who was born in the Strawberry Hill neighborhood of Kansas City, Kansas, was of Yugoslavian descent (the original surname was spelled Janković) and began living in California after earning two Purple Hearts for his service as a medic 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. Yankovic's mother, a stenographer from Kentucky of English and Italian descent, married his father in 1949. She moved to California a decade before Yankovic was born.

Yankovic's first accordion lesson, which sparked his interest in music, took place on the day before his seventh birthday. A door-to-door salesman traveling through Lynwood offered his parents a choice of accordion or guitar lessons at a local music school. 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" in reference to Frankie Yankovic, to whom he is not related. He has also said that they chose the accordion because "they were convinced it would revolutionize rock". As his mother did not let him outside the house often, he had plenty of time to practice the instrument at home. He continued lessons at the school for three years before deciding to learn on his own.

In the 1970s, Yankovic was a big fan of Elton John and cites John's 1973 album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road as one of the reasons he "learned to play rock 'n roll on the accordion". As for his influences in comedy and parody music, he has listed artists including Stan Freberg, Spike Jones, Tom Lehrer, 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. Other sources of inspiration for his comedy came from Mad magazine, the British comedy troupe Monty Python, and the Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker movies. He had also enjoyed George Carlin's stand-up comedy album FM & AM so much that he transcribed it by typewriter.

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." He attended Lynwood High School, where his unusual schooling experience meant he was two years younger than most of his classmates. He was not interested in sports or social events but was active in extracurricular programs, 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, which he later said did "absolutely nothing" and was started "just to get an extra picture of [themselves] in the yearbook". He graduated in 1976, and was valedictorian of his senior class. He attended California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, earning a bachelor's degree in architecture.

Career

1976–1981: Dr. Demento and early fame

Yankovic received his first exposure via syndicated comedy radio personality Dr. Demento's Southern California-based radio show, later saying, "If there hadn't been a Dr. Demento, I'd probably have a real job now." Despite his mother having caught him listening to Dr. Demento's program and banning him from listening to it again, he found ways to hear it discreetly. In 1976, Dr. Demento spoke at Yankovic's school, where the 16-year-old Yankovic gave him a homemade cassette tape of original and parody songs performed on the accordion in Yankovic's bedroom into a "cheesy little tape recorder". The tape's first song, "Belvedere Cruisin'" (about his family's Plymouth Belvedere) was played on Demento's comedy radio show, launching Yankovic's career. Demento said, "'Belvedere Cruising' might not have been the very best song I ever heard, but it had some clever lines [...] I put the tape on the air immediately." Yankovic also played at local coffeehouses, accompanied by fellow dorm resident Joel Miller on bongos. He recalled in 2007:

It was sort of like amateur music night, and a lot of people were like wannabe Dan Fogelbergs. They'd get up on stage with their acoustic guitar and do these lovely ballads. And I would get up with my accordion and play the theme from 2001. And people were kind of shocked that I would be disrupting their mellow Thursday night folk fest.

During Yankovic's second year as an architecture student at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, he became a disc jockey at KCPR, the university's radio station. Yankovic had been called "Weird Al" originally as a more derogatory nickname from others within the dormitory he shared, as he was seen as the strange outcast compared to other residents. Though he initially took it as an insult, Yankovic eventually "took it on professionally" as his persona for the station. In 1978, he released his first recording (as Alfred Yankovic), "Take Me Down", on the LP Slo Grown, as a benefit for the Economic Opportunity Commission of San Luis Obispo County. The song mocked famous nearby landmarks such as Bubblegum Alley and the waterfall toilets at the Madonna Inn.

In mid-1979, shortly before his senior year, "My Sharona" by the Knack was on the charts, and Yankovic took his accordion into the restroom across the hall from the radio station to take advantage of the echo chamber acoustics and recorded a parody titled "My Bologna". He sent it to Dr. Demento, who played it to good response from listeners. Yankovic met the Knack after a show at his college and introduced himself as the author of "My Bologna". The Knack's lead singer, Doug Fieger, said he liked the song and suggested that Capitol Records vice president Rupert Perry release it as a single. "My Bologna" was released as a single with "School Cafeteria" as its B-side, and the label gave Yankovic a six-month recording contract. Yankovic, who was "only getting average grades" in his architecture degree, began to realize that he might make a career of comedic music.

On September 14, 1980, Yankovic was a guest on the Dr. Demento Show, where he was to record a new parody live. The song was called "Another One Rides the Bus", a parody of Queen's hit "Another One Bites the Dust". While practicing the song outside the sound booth, he met Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz, who told him he was a drummer and agreed to bang on Yankovic's accordion case to help Yankovic keep a steady beat during the song. They rehearsed the song just a few times before the show began. "Another One Rides the Bus" became so popular that Yankovic's first television appearance was a performance of the song on The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder on April 21, 1981. On the show, Yankovic played his accordion, and again, Schwartz banged on the accordion case and provided comical sound effects. Yankovic's record label, TK Records, went bankrupt about two weeks after the single was released, so Yankovic received no royalties from its initial release.

1981–1989: Band and fame

1981 brought Yankovic on tour for the first time as part of Dr. Demento's stage show. His stage act in a Phoenix, Arizona, nightclub caught the eye of manager Jay Levey, who was "blown away". 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. Steve Jay became Yankovic's bass player, and Jay's friend Jim West played guitar. Schwartz continued on drums. 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.

Yankovic recorded "I Love Rocky Road", (a parody of "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" originally recorded by The Arrows) which was produced by Rick Derringer, in 1982. The song was a hit on Top 40 radio, leading to Yankovic's signing with Scotti Brothers Records. In 1983, Yankovic's first self-titled album was released on Scotti Bros. The song "Ricky" (a parody of Toni Basil's hit "Mickey") was released as a single and the music video received exposure on the still-young MTV. "Ricky" broke the top 100 videos on MTV at the time, which Yankovic took as a sign that his career was in music, quitting his job as a mailroom clerk at the local offices of Westwood One to pursue the music career.

Yankovic released his second album "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D in 1984. The first single "Eat It", a parody of the Michael Jackson song "Beat It", became popular, thanks in part to the music video, a shot-for-shot parody of Jackson's "Beat It" music video, and what Yankovic sarcastically described as his "uncanny resemblance" to Jackson. "Eat It" was also aided by the first of Yankovic's Al TV specials that aired on MTV on April 1, 1984, the network looking to Yankovic's rising popularity to help fill its programming time. Peaking at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 on April 14, 1984, "Eat It" remained Yankovic's highest-charting single until "White & Nerdy" placed at No. 9 in October 2006. In Canada, "Eat It" reached No. 5.

In 1985, Yankovic co-wrote and starred in a mockumentary of his own life titled The Compleat Al (the title being a parody of the 1982 documentary The Compleat Beatles), which intertwined the facts of his life up to that point with fiction. The movie also featured some clips from Yankovic's trip to Japan and some clips from the Al TV specials. The Compleat Al was co-directed by Jay Levey, who would direct UHF four years later. Also released around the same time as The Compleat Al was The Authorized Al, a biographical book based on the film. The book, resembling a scrapbook, included real and fictional humorous photographs and documents.

Yankovic and his band toured as the opening act for the Monkees in mid-1987 for their second reunion tour of North America. Yankovic claims to have enjoyed touring with the Monkees, even though "the promoter gypped us out of a bunch of money".

In 1988, Yankovic was the narrator on the Wendy Carlos recording of Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf. The album also included a sequel to Camille Saint-Saëns's composition The Carnival of the Animals, titled "The Carnival of the Animals Part II", with Yankovic providing humorous poems for each of the featured creatures in the style of Ogden Nash, who had written humorous poems for the original.

Yankovic's success led to a deal to make his film UHF, which premiered in July 1989. While the film has since become a cult title, its initial release was against mediocre reviews, and it was up against several other summer blockbusters, including Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Ghostbusters II, Batman, and Licence to Kill. While Yankovic released an associated soundtrack album, UHF – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and Other Stuff, it was not as successful as his previous albums. Yankovic fell into a slump over the next three years as a result of the poor performance of the film.

1990–1997: Revived career

Yankovic had returned to the studio to prepare songs for his next album Off the Deep End around 1990. During production, Rubén Valtierra joined the band on keyboards in 1991, allowing Yankovic to concentrate more on singing and increasing his use of the stage space during concerts. Further, Yankovic took over production from Rick Derringer in 1992. While Derringer had produced six of Yankovic's previous albums, for which he won two Grammy Awards.

By 1992, most of the original songs for Off the Deep End were complete, but Yankovic still did not have a strong parody and was waiting for the next big hit to work from, as he was still in a slump post-UHF. When Jackson released his next album, Dangerous, and its hit single "Black or White", Yankovic had quickly written a parody, "Snack All Night", from it, and hoped Jackson would allow him to use the parody. Jackson denied Yankovic this, as Jackson felt "Black or White" carried a serious message that would be undermined by the parody. Again, Yankovic fell into a mood and delayed release of Off the Deep End without a lead parody. Around this time, Nirvana and the grunge music scene began to take off. Yankovic wrote a parody of Nirvana's hit "Smells Like Teen Spirit", "Smells Like Nirvana", and was able to secure the band's permission for the parody; Nirvana's lead singer Kurt Cobain reportedly said that getting Yankovic to parody their work was a sign their band had "made it". "Smells Like Nirvana" became the lead song on Off the Deep End, landing at No. 35 on the Billboard charts, his second top 40 hit in the United States. Off the Deep End reached No. 17 on the Billboard 200, and helped to revitalize Yankovic's career after the failure of UHF.

Yankovic's next two studio albums were modest successes in light of Off the Deep End. Alapalooza was released in 1993, and led with "Jurassic Park", a spoof of "MacArthur Park" by Richard Harris while mocking the 1993 film of the same name. Alapalooza peaked at No. 46 on the Billboard 200. Bad Hair Day in 1996 headlined with "Amish Paradise", a parody of Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise". "Amish Paradise" reached No. 53 on the top Billboard 100 singles, while the album reached No. 14 on the Billboard 200, and eventually was certified Double Platinum in sales by RIAA, making it one of Yankovic's more successful works.

In addition, Yankovic released a number of compilation works during this period, including Permanent Record: Al in the Box, a four-CD collection which included most of Yankovic's previous works as well as an informational booklet with contributions from Dr. Demento. Other compilations included Greatest Hits Volume II, a collection of songs that were not included in Permanent Record, and The TV Album, featuring songs loosely based on television shows.

1998–present: New look and later career

On January 24, 1998, Yankovic had LASIK eye surgery to correct his extreme myopia. Yankovic had the surgery for free when he agreed to let KTLA Morning News broadcast it live on television. When Running with Scissors debuted in 1999, he unveiled a radically changed look. In addition to shedding his glasses, he had shaved off his moustache and grown out his hair. He had previously shaved his moustache in 1983 for the video of "Ricky" to resemble Desi Arnaz, in 1989 for segments of the "UHF" music video, in 1992 for the video of "Smells Like Nirvana" to resemble Kurt Cobain and in 1996 for the "Amish Paradise" video. Yankovic reasoned, "If Madonna's allowed to reinvent herself every 15 minutes, I figure I should be good for a change at least once every 20 years." He parodied the reaction to this "new look" in a commercial for his nonexistent MTV Unplugged special. The commercial featured Yankovic in the short-haired wig from the music video for Hanson's "River", claiming his new look was an attempt to "get back to the core of what I'm all about", that being "the music".

Running with Scissors was followed by his next studio album Poodle Hat in 2003. Poodle Hat was met with average reviews without any standout singles, though the album did peak at number 17 on the Billboard 200. Yankovic's following album was Straight Outta Lynwood in 2006, which featured the single "White & Nerdy", a parody of "Ridin'" by Chamillionaire. "White & Nerdy" became Yankovic's first Billboard Hot 100 single, debuting at No. 29 and peaking at No. 9. "Canadian Idiot", a parody of "American Idiot" by Green Day, also charted in the Hot 100. The album as a whole reached No. 10 in the Billboard 200, and by 2008 was Yankovic's first certified platinum album, having reached over one million sales.

Following Straight Out of Lynwood, Yankovic started to explore digital distribution of his songs. 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. Yankovic said that the benefit of digital distribution is that "I don't have to wait around while my songs get old and dated—I can get them out on the Internet almost immediately." In 2009, Yankovic released four more songs: "Craigslist" on June 16, "Skipper Dan" on July 14, "CNR" on August 4, and "Ringtone" on August 25. These five digitally released songs were packaged as a digital EP titled Internet Leaks, with "Whatever You Like" retroactively included in the set.

In 2011, Yankovic completed his thirteenth studio album, titled Alpocalypse, which was released on June 21, 2011. The album contains the five songs from the previous Internet Leaks digital download release, a polka medley called "Polka Face", a song called "TMZ", for which Bill Plympton created an animated music video, and five other new songs.

Yankovic had reported an interest in parodying Lady Gaga's material, and on April 20 announced that he had written and recorded a parody of "Born This Way" titled "Perform This Way" to be the lead single for his new album. However, upon first submitting it to Lady Gaga's manager for approval (which Yankovic does as a courtesy), he was not given permission to release it commercially. As he had previously done under similar circumstances (with his parody of James Blunt's "You're Beautiful", which was titled "You're Pitiful"), Yankovic then released the song for free on the internet. Soon afterwards, Gaga's manager admitted that he had denied the parody of his own accord without forwarding the song to his client, and upon seeing it online, Lady Gaga granted permission for the parody. Yankovic has stated that all of his proceeds from the parody and its music video will be donated to the Human Rights Campaign, to support the human rights themes of the original song. Yankovic was also a judge for the 10th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.

Yankovic stated in September 2013 that he was working on a new album, and in 2014, he used social media websites to hint at a July 15 release of the new album. The album artwork and title, Mandatory Fun, were confirmed by his publisher. Yankovic said in an interview promoting the album that, with the end of his recording contract, it is likely his last traditional album, in the sense of recording and releasing that many songs at a time; he said he will likely switch to releasing singles and EPs over the Internet, a method which offers more immediate release opportunities, as Yankovic considers his parodies in particular as something that can become dated by the time of release. Mandatory Fun was released to strong critical praise and was the No. 1 debut album on the Billboard charts the week of its release, buoyed by Yankovic's approach for releasing eight music videos over eight continuous days that drew viral attention to the album as described below. It became Yankovic's first No. 1 album in his career. Additionally, the song "Word Crimes" (a parody of Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines") reached No. 39 on the Top 100 singles for the same week; this is Yankovic's fourth Top 40 single (following "Eat It", "Smells Like Nirvana", and "White & Nerdy") and made him the third musical artist, after Michael Jackson and Madonna, to have a Top 40 single in each decade since the 1980s. Since Mandatory Fun, Yankovic has not released any additional albums. In a 2017 interview with Rolling Stone, Yankovic said, "I can't tell you when any material is coming out. Inspiration could strike tomorrow and I might have something out next month. There's no plan. It's just going to be whenever it winds up being."

After several years of fan-driven campaigns, Yankovic received his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2018.

In March 2018, Al released a new song, "The Hamilton Polka", a polka medley consisting of several songs from the musical Hamilton. The song holds the distinction of being the first polka song to chart on Billboard's Digital Songs Sales Chart. After Hamilton had premiered on Disney+ in July 2020, Yankovic released a video version of "The Hamilton Polka" that synched his song to video clips from the show. Also in March, Al released two remixes of songs by Portugal. The Man: "Feel It Still" and "Live in the Moment". In 2020, he collaborated with the band again on their single "Who's Gonna Stop Me", which was released for Indigenous Peoples' Day.

Following the release of Mandatory Fun, Yankovic has not recorded many new songs, instead focusing on projects such as his tours, and the 2022 parody biopic Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. That same year, Yankovic told the Los Angeles Times that he was not writing many new parodies because it had become harder to tell which new songs would be big hits, due to what the newspaper described as popular music trending more towards "micro-niche[s]" than a "monoculture".

Personal life

Yankovic became a vegetarian in 1992 when 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". 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." 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."

Yankovic married Suzanne Krajewski, a marketing executive with 20th Century Fox, after they met in 2001. They were introduced to each other by their mutual friend Bill Mumy. Their daughter, Nina, was born in 2003. They live in Los Angeles, where they own a house previously owned by writer Jack S. Margolis and rapper Heavy D. In contrast to his stage persona, Yankovic is known by friends and associates to be polite, shy, and introverted, even among family. He is a Christian, and a married couple from the church he attends can be seen in the background on the cover of his album Poodle Hat.

On April 9, 2004, Yankovic's parents were found dead at their home in Fallbrook, California, the victims of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning from their fireplace. Hours after his wife notified him of this, he made the decision to go on with his concert in Appleton, Wisconsin. He later said, "Since my music had helped many of my fans through tough times, maybe it would work for me as well ... it would at least give me a break from sobbing all the time." Their deaths occurred following the release of Poodle Hat, which was Yankovic's lowest-selling album in 20 years. He considered the Appleton show and subsequent tour dates therapeutic: "If I didn't have anything to distract me, I probably would have spiraled into an even deeper depression. For a couple of hours each night, I could go onstage and put on a big fake smile and pretend like everything was just okay." In a 2014 interview, he cited the deaths of his parents as the worst thing that had ever happened to him, adding, "I knew intellectually, that at some point, probably, I'd have to, you know, live through the death of my parents, but I never thought it would be at the same time, and so abruptly."

Musical style

Parodies

Yankovic is well known for creating parodies of contemporary radio hits, which typically make up about half of his studio releases. Unlike other parody artists such as Allan Sherman, Yankovic and his band strive to keep the backing music in his parodies the same as the original, transcribing the original song by ear and re-recording the song for the parody. In some cases, after Yankovic has requested that the original band allow his parody, the band will offer to help out with the recreation.

Most Yankovic songs consist of the original song's music, with a separate, unrelated set of amusing lyrics. Yankovic's humor normally lies more in creating unexpected incongruity between an artist's image and the topic of the song, contrasting the style of the song with its content, or in pointing out trends or works which have become pop culture clichés (such as "eBay" and "Don't Download This Song"). Yankovic's parodies are often satirical of popular culture, including television (see The TV Album), movies ("The Saga Begins"), and food (see The Food Album). Yankovic claims he has no intention of writing "serious" music.

Yankovic is the sole writer for all his songs and, for "legal and personal reasons", does not accept parody submissions or ideas from fans. There exists, however, one exception to this rule: Madonna was reportedly.

Polka medleys

Most of Yankovic's studio albums include a polka medley of about a dozen contemporary songs at the time of the album, with the choruses or memorable lines of various songs juxtaposed for humorous effect. The polka medley became a staple of Yankovic's future albums. Yankovic said that "fans would be rioting in the streets, I think, if I didn't do a polka medley." More current polka medleys feature songs that Yankovic had wanted to parody but which had proved difficult, such as Daft Punk's "Get Lucky", which lacked sufficient lyrics to parody. The polkas are recorded in studio, including the sound effects which are performed live during recording, which Yankovic considered one of his favorite parts of recording.

Other works

Films

UHF

In 1989, Yankovic starred in a full-length feature film called UHF, co-written by himself and manager Jay Levey and filmed in Tulsa, Oklahoma. A satire of the television and film industries, also starring Michael Richards, Fran Drescher, and Victoria Jackson, it brought floundering studio Orion their highest test scores since the movie RoboCop. However, it was unsuccessful in theaters due to both poor critical reception and competition from other summer blockbusters at the time such as Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Lethal Weapon 2, Batman and Licence to Kill. The failure of the film left Yankovic in a three-year slump, which was later broken by his inspiration to compose "Smells Like Nirvana".

The film has since become a cult classic; fans bought it on eBay for high prices before it came out on DVD. Yankovic occasionally shows clips from the film at his concerts (to which MGM, the film's current owner, initially objected in the form of a cease and desist letter). In an apparent attempt to make it more accessible to overseas audiences, where the term UHF is used less frequently to describe TV broadcasts, the film was titled The Vidiot From UHF in Australia and parts of Europe.

UHF shows the creation of Yankovic's signature food—the Twinkie Wiener Sandwich. The snack consists of an overturned Twinkie split open as a makeshift bun, a hot dog, and Easy Cheese put together and dipped in milk before eating. Yankovic has stated that he has switched to using tofu hot dogs since becoming a vegetarian, but still enjoys the occasional Twinkie Wiener Sandwich.

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

In 2010, Eric Appel produced a Funny or Die movie trailer for Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, a fictional biographical film that parodies other films based on musicians; Yankovic (played by Aaron Paul) is seen hiding his "weirdness" from his parents (Gary Cole and Mary Steenburgen), making it big using song parodies with the help of Dr. Demento (Patton Oswalt), falling in and out of love with Madonna (Olivia Wilde), and being arrested, at which point his father finally admits he is "weird" as well. Yankovic himself plays a music producer in the short. Yankovic and Appel announced in January 2022 that they would be making a full-length biopic of the same name based on the trailer, starring Daniel Radcliffe as Yankovic. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2022, and was released on the Roku Channel in November 2022. The film's soundtrack album includes several re-recorded parodies featured in the film along with an original song "Now You Know".

Live television

In 2012, Yankovic extensively featured in the sixth-season episode of 30 Rock, "Kidnapped by Danger", in which Jenna Maroney tries to come up with a "'Weird Al'-proof" song. In 2014, he performed at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards, singing a comedic medley of songs based on the themes of several Emmy-nominated shows, including Mad Men and Game of Thrones.

Animation and voice work

Yankovic has done voice-overs for several animated series. He appeared in a 2003 episode of The Simpsons, singing "The Ballad of Homer & Marge" (a parody of John Mellencamp's "Jack & Diane") with his band. The episode, "Three Gays of the Condo", in which Marge hires Yankovic to sing the aforementioned song to Homer in an attempt to reconcile their marriage, later won an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming Less Than One Hour)". Yankovic also had a cameo in a 2008 episode, titled "That '90s Show", during which he records a parody of Homer's grunge hit "Shave Me" titled "Brain Freeze" making Yankovic one of only a handful of celebrities to appear twice on the show playing themselves.

He appeared in the animated Adult Swim show Robot Chicken, which provided him with a music video for the song "Weasel Stomping Day". Yankovic is the voice for Squid Hat on the Cartoon Network show The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy. He is also the announcer of the cartoon's eponymous video game adaptation.

Yankovic had a guest appearance voicing Wreck-Gar, a waste collection vehicle Transformer in the Transformers: Animated cartoon series; previously, Yankovic's "Dare to Be Stupid" song was featured in the 1986 animated film The Transformers: The Movie, during the sequence in which the Wreck-Gar character was first introduced; as such, the song is referenced in the episode. He also plays local TV talent show host Uncle Muscles on several episodes of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! along with other appearances on the show. Yankovic has also supplied the voice of one-shot character 'Petroleum Joe' on The Brak Show. He also voiced himself on a Back at the Barnyard episode, and he appeared as a ringmaster who helps the regular characters of Yo Gabba Gabba! organize a circus in a 2007 episode of the children's show.

In 2011, Yankovic appeared as himself in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Bat-Mite Presents: Batman's Strangest Cases!" In 2012, he appeared on two episodes of The Aquabats! Super Show!, playing two different characters as the superhero SuperMagic PowerMan and as the President of the United States. In 2014, he appeared in the fourth season My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episode "Pinkie Pride" as Cheese Sandwich, a rival party planner to Pinkie Pie. He later reprised his role in the season 9 episode "The Last Laugh".

In 2015, Yankovic voiced the supervillain Darkseid in a season 3 episode of Teen Titans Go!. He initially speaks with a deep, intimidating voice, but after complaining about having a cold and taking a lozenge, he speaks in his normal voice, and the heroes are no longer afraid of him. Another character points out that Darkseid sounds like Weird Al Yankovic, and the villain replies that Weird Al was "a true monster" for "undercutting musicians by subverting their words and compromising their artistic integrity." One of the protagonists calls Al "a national treasure", and they began to battle.

In 2016, Yankovic appeared in two episodes of BoJack Horseman as Mr. Peanutbutter's brother, Captain Peanutbutter, and began portraying Milo Murphy in the Disney XD series Milo Murphy's Law. Yankovic guest voiced as Papa Kotassium in a 2016 episode of Cartoon Network's animated series, Mighty Magiswords, which was created by Weird Al fan, musician and accordionist Kyle Carrozza. Carrozza sent a FAQ to Weird Al when Carrozza was in college in 1999.

Web media

In 2008, Weird Al joined Michael J. Nelson as a guest on the RiffTrax audio commentary of Jurassic Park. On November 10, 2009, Weird Al was a guest "internet scientist" on Rocketboom's "Know Your Meme" video series, in the installment on the topic of Auto-Tune, hosted by Jamie Wilkinson. Yankovic later appeared in another Funny or Die short alongside Huey Lewis which parodied the ax murder scene in the movie American Psycho.

For The Nerdist Podcast, Weird Al began hosting a new comedic celebrity interview web series, Face to Face with 'Weird Al' Yankovic, on April 3, 2012. The series features Al TV-esque fake interviews with movie stars. Al has appeared on numerous other webshows, including CollegeHumor, LearningTown, Some Jerk with a Camera, Team Unicorn, and Epic Rap Battles of History appearing as Sir Isaac Newton in a battle against actors portraying Bill Nye, the Science Guy (YouTube star Nice Peter), and Neil DeGrasse Tyson (Chali 2na of the group Jurassic 5).

In October 2016, Yankovic collaborated with the Gregory Brothers to create a music video "Bad Hombres, Nasty Women" shortly after the third debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, with Yankovic singing between autotuned snippets from the candidates. Yankovic collaborated with the Gregory Brothers on a similar video after the first debate in the 2020 campaign between Trump and Joe Biden.

Directing

Yankovic has directed many of his own music videos; he has directed all of his music videos from 1993's "Bedrock Anthem" to 2006's "White & Nerdy". He also directed the end sequence of 1986's "Christmas at Ground Zero" (an original piece juxtaposing Christmas with nuclear warfare) from his Polka Party! album and the title sequence to Spy Hard, for which he sang the title song.

Yankovic wrote, directed and starred in the short 3-D movie attraction "Al's Brain: A 3-D Journey Through The Human Brain", a $2.5 million project which was sponsored by and premiered at the Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa, California, in 2009. The project included a brief cameo by Sir Paul McCartney, which Yankovic directed during McCartney's appearance at the 2009 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Fair CEO Steve Beazley, who supported the project, considered the project a success and explored leasing the exhibit to other fairs; the second appearance of the exhibit was at the 2009 Puyallup Fair in Washington.

He has also directed several videos for other artists, including Hanson (the Titanic sequences in "River"), The Black Crowes ("Only a Fool"), Ben Folds ("Rockin' the Suburbs"), Jeff Foxworthy ("Redneck Stomp" and "Party All Night"), Jon Spencer Blues Explosion ("Wail"), and The Presidents of the United States of America ("Mixed Up S.O.B"). He has cameo appearances in his videos for Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Hanson (as the interviewer), and Ben Folds.

On January 25, 2010, Yankovic announced that he had signed a production deal with Warner Bros. to write and direct a live-action feature film for Cartoon Network. Although Yankovic previously wrote the script for UHF, this was to be the first movie Yankovic directed. Yankovic stated that he would not be starring in the movie, as Cartoon Network wanted a younger protagonist. During an interview on Comedy Death-Ray Radio, Yankovic revealed that though Cartoon Network "loved" his script, the network decided that they were no longer intending to produce feature films. Yankovic initially stated that he would instead shop the script around to other potential studios, but in 2013 revealed that the project had been scrapped as "it was really geared for Cartoon Network".

Books

Yankovic wrote When I Grow Up, a children's book released on February 1, 2011, and published by HarperCollins. The book features 8-year-old Billy presenting to his class the wide variety of imaginative career possibilities that he is considering. Yankovic stated that the idea for the book was based on his own "circuitous" career path. The book allows Yankovic to apply the humorous writing style found in his music in another medium, allowing him to use puns and rhymes. Yankovic worked with Harper Collins' editor Anne Hoppe—the first time that Yankovic has had an editor—and found her help to be a positive experience. The book is illustrated by Wes Hargis, who, according to Yankovic, has "a childlike quality and a very fun quality and a very imaginative quality" that matched well with Yankovic's writing. The book reached the No. 4 position on The New York Times Best Seller list for Children's Picture Books for the week of February 20, 2011.

Yankovic also wrote a sequel to When I Grow Up, 2013's My New Teacher and Me!.

Yankovic became the first guest editor for Mad magazine for their 533rd issue, published in April 2015.

Yankovic partnered with Z2 Comics to produce The Illustrated Al: The Songs of "Weird Al" Yankovic, which was released on January 19, 2023. The book takes twenty of Yankovic's songs and illustrates them in comic form, each by different artists. Yankovic selected artists for the book based on past experience in working with the artists, but short of proofing the final work, was otherwise hands-off for various editorial choices. Following publication of The Illustrated Al, Yankovic started working with the illustrators to produce new videos for these older songs, the first which was released in January 2023.

Other media

Yankovic competed on a week of Wheel of Fortune taped at Disney's Hollywood Studios in March 1994. He also competed on Rock & Roll Jeopardy!

Weird Al joined the band Hanson in their music video for "Thinking 'bout Somethin'" in which he plays the tambourine.

Yankovic contributes backing vocals for the song "Time" on Ben Folds' album Songs for Silverman.

Yankovic was also one of many celebrities who took part in the NOH8 Campaign against Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in California.

Yankovic was approached by a beer company to endorse their product. Yankovic had turned it down because he believed that "a lot of my fans were young and impressionable". Yankovic later posted on his Twitter account that he never regretted the decision.

In 2009, Yankovic was a special guest on an episode of G4's Web Soup where he came as Mark Gormley at first.

In 2011, Yankovic guest starred as the character "Banana Man" in an episode of Adventure Time. The same year, he appeared as himself in the How I Met Your Mother episode "Noretta".

In 2012, he appeared as himself along with Alice Cooper, Bret Michaels, and Maria Menounos in The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange for the Christmas special, and sung with Alice, Bret, and Orange.

On May 31, 2014, Yankovic won the ACE Award (Amateur Cartoonist Extraordinaire) from the National Cartoonists Society at its awards banquet in San Diego.

From 2014 until 2017, Yankovic appeared as a celebrity contestant in eight episodes of the game show Celebrity Name Game.

On November 19, 2014, a RadioShack ad was uploaded to YouTube which featured Al in the role of a RadioShack employee.

In 2015, Yankovic made an appearance on an episode of The Odd Couple as a yoga student in the class Felix takes over for one day.

Also in 2015, Yankovic was featured as Mad magazine's first ever guest editor for their 533rd issue.

In 2016, Yankovic became the bandleader on the IFC series Comedy Bang! Bang!, on which he had previously guest starred.

In the official video for Weezer's cover of "Africa" published in September 2018, which itself is parody of Weezer's video for "Undone – The Sweater Song", Yankovic stands in for Rivers Cuomo as vocalist and lead guitar.

Though he does not appear, Yankovic is mentioned directly by name in the 2021 television series Y: The Last Man adapted from the 2000s comic book series of the same name, which involves a post-apocalyptic alternative timeline where all the men of the world had died. Whereas the comic book had the characters reflect on the absence of the Rolling Stones, showrunner Eliza Clark opted to update the references for the show, and used Yankovic as a more modern artist that had been considered a great loss.

Misattribution and imitators

Songs posted to file-sharing networks are often misattributed to him because of their humorous subject matter. Often, his surname is misspelled (and thus mispronounced) as "Yankovich", among other variations. Much to the disdain of Yankovic, these misattributed files include songs that are racist or otherwise offensive. A young listener who had heard several of these offensive tracks by way of a file-sharing service confronted Yankovic online, threatening a boycott because of his supposedly explicit lyrics. Quite a few of the songs, such as "Star Wars Cantina" by Mark Jonathan Davis (not, in a double misattribution, his lounge-singer character Richard Cheese), "Star Wars Gangsta Rap", "Chewbacca", "The Devil Went to Jamaica", and several more have a Star Wars motif. Some songs misattributed to him are not songs, but spoken skits. A list of songs frequently misattributed to Yankovic can be found at The Not Al Page and a list of all commercially released songs recorded by Yankovic can be found on his website.

Yankovic cites these misattributions as his only real problem with peer-to-peer file-sharing sites.

In terms of legitimate parodies of Yankovic, the Mr. Show sketch "Superstar Machine" features Bob Odenkirk as the character Daffy "Mal" Yinkleyankle. Yankovic was impressed by the parody, and stated that it "zeroed in on everything that's irritating about me".

Fan-driven campaigns

The Weird Al Star Fund was a campaign started by Yankovic's fans to get him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Their mission was to "solicit, collect, and raise the necessary money, and to compile the information needed for the application to nominate "Weird Al" Yankovic for a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame". Fans worldwide have sent donations to raise the US$40,000 needed for a nomination. In addition to the preferred method of cash donations, many methods were used to raise money for the cause, such as a live benefit show held April 11, 2006, and selling merchandise on the official website and eBay, including T-shirts, calendars, and cookbooks. On May 26, 2006, the campaign hit the then-$15,000 target, just five days before the May 31 deadline to submit the necessary paperwork. However, Yankovic was not included on the list of inductees for 2007. On February 9, 2007, the Hollywood Chamber Of Commerce raised the price to sponsor a new star to $25,000. Yankovic's application was resubmitted for consideration in 2007, but he was not included among 2008's inductees. In December 2010, the price was raised again to $30,000. and in 2017 the price was raised to $40,000. 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 Yankovic would receive a star on the Walk of Fame as one of the 2018 inductees. In an official induction ceremony on August 27, 2018, Al received the 2,643rd star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The star is located at 6914 Hollywood Blvd, directly across the street from TCL Chinese Theatre. The ceremony was attended by 1,500 fans.

Similar to the Weird Al Star Fund, a second fan-driven campaign called "Make the Rock Hall 'Weird'" has tried to enshrine him into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, for which he has been eligible since 2004. Previous attempts to raise awareness for the campaign and support 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. In addition to these efforts, an ongoing campaign is underway in which supporters of Yankovic's nomination are requested to send "sincere, thoughtful" letters to the Rock Hall Foundation's headquarters in New York. The Hall has not considered Yankovic for nomination since the campaign started in 2004. A 2009 Rolling Stone poll named Weird Al as the top artist that should be nominated for the Hall of Fame, followed by Rush (who were inducted in 2013) and The Moody Blues (inducted in 2018) in the top ten.

A smaller ongoing effort has been made by fans to have Yankovic perform at the halftime show of a Super Bowl game. This inspired Yankovic to write the fight song parody "Sports Song" for Mandatory Fun to help round out his repertoire. Subsequent to the success of Mandatory Fun, another fan-driven campaign pushed for Yankovic to headline the then-upcoming Super Bowl XLIX at the highlight of the artist's career, which was noticed by many media outlets, including CNN and Wired, though the decision for this selection would reside within the management of the NFL (who instead chose Katy Perry for that position). Yankovic believed that he would never be selected as a standalone act for the Super Bowl, but could see other bands include him as a special guest if they were selected.

Awards and nominations

"Weird Al" Yankovic awards and nominations

Awards and nominations Award Wins Nominations American Music Awards 0 0 Grammy 5 17
Totals
Wins	5
Nominations	16
Note

Grammy Awards

Year	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
1984	Best Comedy Recording	"Eat It"	Won
1985		Dare to Be Stupid	Nominated
1987		Polka Party!	Nominated
1988	Best Concept Music Video	"Fat"	Won
	Best Recording for Children	Peter & the Wolf/Carnival of the Animals – Part II	Nominated
	Best Comedy Recording	Even Worse	Nominated
1992		Off the Deep End	Nominated
1994	Best Short Form Music Video	"Jurassic Park"	Nominated
2003	Best Comedy Album	Poodle Hat	Won
2006		Straight Outta Lynwood	Nominated
	Best Surround Sound Album		Nominated
2009	Best Comedy Album	Internet Leaks	Nominated
2011	Best Short Form Music Video	"Perform This Way"	Nominated
	Best Comedy Album	Alpocalypse	Nominated
2014		Mandatory Fun	Won
2018	Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package	Squeeze Box: The Complete Works of "Weird Al" Yankovic	Won
2023	Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media	Weird: The Al Yankovic Story	Pending

Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards

Year	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2023	Best Writing in a Streaming Limited or Anthology Series or Movie	Weird: The Al Yankovic Story	Pending
2023	Best Original Song	"Now You Know"	Pending

Online Film & Television Association Awards

Year	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2019	Best Guest Actor in a Comedy Series	Crazy Ex-Girlfriend	Nominated

Primetime Emmy Awards

Year	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2023	Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie	Weird: The Al Yankovic Story	Pending
2023	Outstanding Television Movie		Pending
	Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics	"Now You Know"	Pending

Producers Guild of America Awards

Year	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2022	Outstanding Producer of Streamed or Televised Motion Pictures	Weird: The Al Yankovic Story	Won

Society of Composers & Lyricists Awards

Year	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2022	Outstanding Original Song for a Comedy or Musical Visual Media Production	"Now You Know"	Nominated

Writers Guild of America Awards

Year	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2022	TV & New Media Motion Pictures	Weird: The Al Yankovic Story	Nominated

Band members

Current members

• "Weird Al" Yankovic – lead vocals, accordion, keyboards, occasional live percussion (1976–present)
• Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1980–present)
• Jim "Kimo" West – guitar, mandolin, backing vocals, occasional banjo (1983–present)
• Steve Jay – bass, banjo, backing vocals, occasional live keyboards (1983–present)
• Rubén Valtierra – piano, keyboards, backing vocals, occasional live percussion (1991–present)

Former members

• Rick Derringer – production, additional guitar, occasional mandolin (1982–1990)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

• "Weird Al" Yankovic (1983)
• "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D (1984)
• Dare to Be Stupid (1985)
• Polka Party! (1986)
• Even Worse (1988)
• UHF – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and Other Stuff (1989)
• Off the Deep End (1992)
• Alapalooza (1993)
• Bad Hair Day (1996)
• Running with Scissors (1999)
• Poodle Hat (2003)
• Straight Outta Lynwood (2006)
• Alpocalypse (2011)
• Mandatory Fun (2014)

Tours

Videography

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988	Tapeheads	Himself
1988	The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!	Himself
1989	UHF	George Newman	Also screenwriter
1991	The Naked Gun 21⁄2: The Smell of Fear	Police Station Thug
1994	Naked Gun 331⁄3: The Final Insult	Himself
1996	Spy Hard	Himself	Also composed the film's opening credits song
1997	Safety Patrol	Himself
2000	Nothing Sacred	Clothing Store Customer
2002	Desperation Boulevard	Himself
2003	Haunted Lighthouse	Waiter
2009	Halloween II	Himself
2009	Al's Brain	Himself / Phineaus Cage	Short film
2015	Batman vs. Robin	The Dollmaker	Voice
2016	Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping	Hammerleg Lead Singer
2017	Sandy Wexler	Himself
2017	A Witches' Ball	Jax
2017	How to Be a Latin Lover	Himself
2019	Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans	Gentleman Ghost and Darkseid
2020	Bill & Ted Face the Music	Himself	Cameo
2020	Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe	Shirt Cannon Guy
2020	Tiny Tim: King for a Day	Narrator
2022	Weird: The Al Yankovic Story	Tony Scotti	Also co-writer and producer

Television

List of live-action appearances on television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	Amazing Stories	The Cabbage Man	Episode: "Miss Stardust"
1990	Seriously...Phil Collins	Jeffrey Taglentini's boss	Television film for CBS
1992	Square One Television	Murray the Mouth	Episode: "The Case: Off the Record", segment: "Mathnet"
1994	Space Ghost Coast to Coast	Himself	Episode: "Banjo"
1995, 1998	The Eddie Files	Waiter Man Interrogated Bones McDuff	"Fractions: Any Way You Slice It" "Geometry: Invasion of the Polygons" "Charts & Graphs: The Dessert Derby"
1997	The Weird Al Show	Himself / various	13 episodes
1998	The Drew Carey Show	Himself	Episode: "Drew Between the Rock and a Hard Place"
2007–10	Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!	Simon / Uncle Muscles	7 episodes
2011	How I Met Your Mother	Himself	Episode: "Noretta"
2012	30 Rock	Himself	Episode: "Kidnapped by Danger"
2012	The Aquabats! Super Show!	President Stuncastin Super Magic Power Man!	"Pilgrim Boy!" "Showtime!"
2012–16	Comedy Bang! Bang!	Himself / Mike Cankers	25 episodes Guest star (season 1–4); bandleader/co-host (season 5)
2013	Childrens Hospital	Young Michael	Episode: "Country Weekend"
2014	Good Morning Today	Sir Alfred Yankovic	Episode 1.9
2014, 2018	... History	Adolf Hitler / Adolf Eichmann	2 episodes
2014	@midnight	Himself	Episodes 2.10, 2.64, 2.92
2014	The Hotwives of Orlando	Coach Cliff Bonadenturo	Episode: "Staycation"
2014–17	Celebrity Name Game	Himself	8 episodes
2015–16	Galavant	Confessional Monk	2 episodes
2015	The Odd Couple	Steve	Episode: "Enlightening Strikes"
2015	Hollywood Game Night	Himself	Episode: "Everything's Coming Up Rosie"
2015	Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp	Jackie Brazen	2 episodes
2015	Gaming Show (In My Parents' Garage)	Himself	Episode: "The Power Up 1000"
2016	The Goldbergs	Himself	Episode: "Weird Al"
2016	Ask the StoryBots	Spud Spa Yogi	Episode: "Where Do French Fries Come From?"
2016	Bajillion Dollar Propertie$	Tug Friendly	Episode: "Amir vs Dean"
2017	My Brother, My Brother and Me	Himself	Episode: "Candlenights & Vape Ape"
2017	Last Week Tonight with John Oliver	Himself	Episode: "President-Elect Trump"
2017	Lady Dynamite	Himself	Episode: "Little Manila"
2017	Last Week Tonight with John Oliver	Himself	Episode: "North Korea"
2018	Carpool Karaoke: The Series	Himself	Episode: "'Weird Al' Yankovic & The Lonely Island"
2019	Crazy Ex-Girlfriend	Bernie	Episode: "I Have a Date Tonight"
2019	Adam Ruins Everything	Shop Owner / The Devil	Episode: "Adam Ruins Games"
2019–21	Work in Progress	Himself	2 episodes
2020	The Eric Andre Show	Himself	Episode: "Lizzo Up"
2020	Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun	Himself/Lindsay	Episodes: "Treasure", "Night-time!"
2020–22	Reno 911!	Ted Nugent	2 episodes
2023	The Muppets Mayhem	Himself	Episode: "Track 5: Break On Through"

List of voice performances on television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Eek! The Cat	Himself	Episode: "The FugEektive"
1999	Sabrina: The Animated Series	Himself	3 episodes
2002	The Brak Show	Petroleum Joe	Episode: "Feud"
2003, 2008	The Simpsons	Himself	Episodes: "Three Gays of the Condo", "That 90's Show"
2003	Lilo & Stitch: The Series	Singing Minstrel	Episode: "Tank: Experiment 586"
2003–05	The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy	The Squid Hat	Episodes: "Toadblatt's School of Scorcery/Educating Grim/It's Hokey Mon!" "Nigel Planter and the Chamber Pot of Secrets/Circus of Fear" "One Crazy Summoner/Guess What's Coming to the Dinner"
2004	Johnny Bravo	Himself	Episode: "Johnny Makeover"
2006	Robot Chicken	Himself / Kevin	Episode: "The Munnery"
2008, 2009	Transformers Animated	Wreck-Gar	"Garbage In, Garbage Out" "Human Error: Part II"
2010	Back at the Barnyard	Himself	Episode: "Get Bessy/A Beautiful Freddy"
2010	Yo Gabba Gabba!	The Ringmaster	Episode: "Circus"
2011	Batman: The Brave and the Bold	Mr. Star / Himself	Episode: "Bat-Mite Presents: Batman's Strangest Cases!"
2011–16	Adventure Time	Banana Man	"The New Frontier" "We Fixed a Truck" "President Porpoise Is Missing!"
2012	The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange	Himself	Episode: "Generic Holiday Special"
2012	Animal Man	Animal Man	4 episodes
2012	WordGirl	The Learnerer	"The Learnerer/Mr. Big's Dinner and a Scam" "Hard-Learned Money/Gift Pony"
2013	Mad	Superman, Krang	Episode: "Mad's 100th Episode Special"
2014, 2019	My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic	Cheese Sandwich	Episodes: "Pinkie Pride" and "The Last Laugh"
2014	Wallykazam!	Wizard Jeff	Episode: "Mustache Day"
2015	Uncle Grandpa	Pal.0/Weird Pal	Episode: "Pal.0"
2015	Gravity Falls	Probabilitor	Episode: "Dungeons, Dungeons and More Dungeons"
2015	Wander Over Yonder	Dr. Screwball Jones	2 episodes
2015, 2018	Teen Titans Go!	Darkseid	Episodes: "Two Parter (Part 2)" "How's That For a Special? Spaaaace"
2016	Mr. Pickles	Additional voices	Episode: "Vegans"
2016, 2019	BoJack Horseman	Captain Peanutbutter	3 episodes
2016–19	Milo Murphy's Law	Milo Murphy	Main role
2016	The 7D	Shapeshifter	Episode: "Shapeshifter"
2017	Voltron: Legendary Defender	Blumfump	Episode: "Depths"
2017	Star vs. the Forces of Evil	Preston Change-O	Episode: "Trickstar"
2017	Pig Goat Banana Cricket	Mr. Ding-a-Ling	Episode: "The Ding-A-Ling Circus"
2017	Danger & Eggs	Polka Sven	Episode: "Finding Cheryl/The Trio"
2017	Mighty Magiswords	Papa Kotassium	Short: "Do You Know the Muffin King?"
2017	We Bare Bears	Lewis	Episode: "The Fair"
2017	Robot Chicken	Kaiju / Himself	Episode: "Hey I Found Another Sock"
2018	Little Big Awesome	Mr. Sun	6 episodes
2019	The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle	Himself	"Almost Famoose" "Bird World Leader or Bwak Bwak Tweet Bwak 3: The Squawk-ening"
2019	Happy!	Smoking Man Baby	Episode: "19 Hours and 13 Minutes"
2019	Archibald's Next Big Thing	Jasper	Episode: "Glide & Gobble/Wheelie, No Hands"
2019	Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?	Himself	Episode: "Attack of the Weird Al-Osaurus!"
2019–20	Where's Waldo	Wizard Artbeard	2 episodes
2020	Blaze and the Monster Machines	Littering Raccoon	Episode: "Recycling Power!"
2020	Close Enough	Himself	Episode: "The Canine Guy"
2020	American Dad!	Himself	Episode: "First, Do No Farm"
2022	LEGO Star Wars Summer Vacation	Vic Vankoh	Disney+ Special
2022	Hamster & Gretel	Wacko Wally	Episode: "U.F. UH-OH! Part I"
2023	Velma	Dandruff Tuba
2023	Firebuds	Latch	TBA
2023	Hailey's On It!	Chip Dingle	Episode: "Who Let the Dogs Out? (Hailey)"
2023	Mulligan	Himself	Cameo appearance
2023	Scott Pilgrim Takes Off	Documentary Announcer	Episode: "Lights. Camera. Sparks?!"

Video games

Year	Title	Role
2006	The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy	Announcer

Pinball

Year	Title	Role
2022	Weird Al's Museum of Natural Hilarity	Himself

Web series

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	Funny or Die	Music Producer	"Weird: The Al Yankovic Story"
2012	5-Second Films	Himself	"Weird Owl"
2013	Funny or Die	Himself	"American Psycho with Huey Lewis and Weird Al Yankovic"
2014	Epic Rap Battles of History	Isaac Newton	"Sir Isaac Newton vs Bill Nye"
2015	CollegeHumor	Himself	"Weird Al Gets Whiplashed"
2018	Hot Ones	Himself	Season 7, Episode 12
2019	Guest Grumps	Himself	Episode: "Wheel of Fortune w/ Special Guest WEIRD AL" Episode: "Mom Hid My Game w/ Special Guest WEIRD AL"

Theater

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2023	Gutenberg! The Musical!	Producer	Cameo

See also

In Spanish: «Weird Al» Yankovic para niños