'Weird Al' Yankovic

Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( YANG-kə-vik; born October 23, 1959) is an American musician, comedian, and actor. He is 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 several 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 2015), 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 has been attributed to his effective use of music videos to further parody pop culture, the song's original artist and the original music videos themselves. He has directed some of his own music videos and has also directed music vide... ()