Weird” Al Yankovic

Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic (born October 23, 1959) is an American musician, best known for writing and performing comedy songs that 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 popular songs, most of which feature his trademark accordion. Since having one of his comedy songs aired on The Dr. Demento Radio Show in 1976 at age 16, Yankovic has sold more than 12 million albums (as of 2025), recorded more than 150 parodies and original songs, and performed more than 2,000 live shows.

Yankovic's success has been attributed to his effective use of music videos to further parody pop culture, the songs' original artists, and the original music videos themselves. He has directed some of his own music videos and also directed music videos 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. He has not released a full album since Mandatory Fun, opting instead for timely releases of singles amid touring.

Yankovic's work has earned him five Grammy Awards and a further eleven 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 fourteenth studio album, Mandatory Fun (2014), became his first number-one album during its debut week. In addition to his music career, 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 appeared in various television shows and web series, 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).

Alfred Matthew Yankovic was born in Downey, California, on October 23, 1959, the only child of Mary Elizabeth (née Vivalda, 1923–2004) and Nick Yankovic (1917–2004). He was raised in nearby Lynwood, California. His father, who was born in the Strawberry Hill neighborhood of Kansas City, Kansas, was of Slovene and Croatian descent: Nick Yankovic was the son of Matthew Yankovich (baptized Matija Jankovič, 1887–1969), who was born in Weidendorf, Austria-Hungary (now Bedenj, Slovenia), and Mary Yankovich (née Braj, 1890–1968), also born in Austria-Hungary (in what is now Croatia). Nick Yankovic 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"; this was 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". Since 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 music school for three years before deciding to continue learning on his own.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.