Al Yankovic was born on October 23, 1959 in the Los Angeles suburb of Lynwood. He first took up the accordian when a salesman came around to solicit business for a music school. His parents, Nick and Mary Yankovic decided on the accordian because of polka king Frankie Yankovic (no relation). As a child and young teen, Al watched alot of TV, which formed a great inspiration for his later work. He also became a fan of such musician/comedians as Allan Sherman and Spike Jones. He became especially acquainted with these musicians through the Dr. Demento radio show, which would later become a great source of publicity for his talents. After an extraordinary career at Linwood High School, where Al graduated as Valedictorian, Al attended the California Technical Institute in San Luis Obispo in order to study architecture, a field he is said to have chosen because it was listed first in the catalogue (although he has said that he really chose it on the advice of a guidance counsellor). It was at California Polytechnical Institute that Al had a radio show and earned the nickname "Weird Al". Although he had sent tapes to Dr. Demento in the past, it was at Calpoly where he recorded his first real published piece, a parody of the popular "My Sharona" by The Knack , called "My Bologna". After the astounding success of that song, forever to be known as the "bathroom recording" as it was recorded in the .. acoustically perfect mens' room, Al launched into a phenominal career that has spanned 9 albums, numerous compilations, a box set, movies, videos, and edible underwear. He has also done a great deal to advance the cause of accordian wielding weirdos, which we are all thankful for.
As of March, 2000, he has had four gold and four platinum records in the US, five gold, two platinum, and one double platinum record in Canada. He has also won two grammys and been nominated for eight more.

There was once a bi-monthly Al fanzine called "The Midnight Star." This title is taken from the second song on Yankovic's album "...In 3-D." (The song itself, incidentally, is a satirical homage to supermarket tabloids.)

He directed some of his music videos, such as "Amish Paradise", "Gump," "Headline News," and "Bedrock Anthem."

Got his first accordion lesson on 22 October 1966, one day before his 7th birthday.

Gives a special thanks to Dr. Demento on each of his albums, since the radio DJ was the first to play his songs on the air.

Graduated valedictorian from Lynwood High School...at the tender age of 16! Moreover, Yankovic was one of the most popular kids in his class. He also claims to have started a club called "The Volcano Worshippers," so he could get his picture onto even more pages in the school yearbook.

Went to California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, where he majored in Architecture and graduated with honors. The Compleat Al (1985) (V) includes an architectural rendering by Al of a food-oriented city called "Burgeropolis".

Has jokingly said that he was born in an elevator on the way to the delivery room.

Produced the album "Babalu Music", a collection of musical numbers from the TV series "I Love Lucy", and includes a Yankovic-edited medley of Desi Arnez melodies.

His first song, "My Bologna" (a parody of The Knack's "My Sharona"), was recorded in a college bathroom. After being played on the Dr. Demento show, it caught the attention of the Doug Fieger, lead singer of The Knack, and Fieger arranged for his record label to sign Yankovic for a short contract. The resulting single (now a collector's item) brought him to national attention, and "My Bologna" became Al's first hit. Yankovic subsequently presented Fieger with a large bologna.

Fell under the disfavor of rap star Coolio who claimed that Yankovic's "Amish Paradise" (a parody of "Gangsta's Paradise") was disrepectful of his song which he felt was too serious to parody. Yankovic said that his record label had been given permission by Coolio to parody the song but the rapper denied giving that sanction (the confusion appears to have been caused by a breakdown in the chain of communication, where a "yes" was given by his record label without Coolio's knowledge). In response Yankovic wrote Coolio a letter of apology to which he has (to date) not responded. No legal action has been taken. Ironically, "Gangsta's Paradise" is itself a sampled reworking of Stevie Wonder's "Pasttime Paradise".

Main Vice: Desserts

Along with the Hawaiian shirt and canvas shoes, his trademark look used to involve glasses and a mustache. In 1997, he shaved off his mustache and underwent LASIK surgery to correct his nearsightedness, but his publicists insisted that he wear costume glasses and a fake mustache. In 1999, he decided that the costume was too annoying, and revealed his "new" look (reasoning that "if Madonna can change her look every time she puts out a new album, I can certainly change my look every ten years or so."). He still wears the costume glasses and mustache during some of his performances when he wants to recreate the "classic" Weird Al look.

Appeared in all three Naked Gun films

Had his song 'Christmas at Ground Zero' banned at some radio stations due to content. [Nuclear war at Christmas]

Daughter Nina Yankovic born to Al and Suzanne on February 11, 2003.

Weird Al's new album is called "Poodle Hat" and will be released May 20, 2003.

Is of Hungarian and Italian descent.

Yankovic wrote the song "One More Minute" after being dumped by a then-girlfriend. He sought to remake this song as a duet with Frank Sinatra, but Sinatra declined Yankovic's invitation.

His album "Poodle Hat" won a Grammy for Best Comedy album. Al has also won Grammies for "Eat It" and "Fat".

Despite sharing a last name and a passion for accordion music, "Weird Al" was no relation to the legendary Frankie Yankovic. Despite this, both men were good friends until Frankie's death...shortly after which Al was figuratively bombarded with sympathy mail from fans.

Parents Nick Yankovic and Mary Yankovic were killed on April 9, 2004, when a closed fireplace-flue caused their home to fill with carbon monoxide.

Was the subject of a "Behind the Music" documentary by cable channel VH1. Unlike other such celebrity documentaries in this series, his did not include any mention of alcoholism, drug abuse, divorce, gambling, religious cults or sexual escapades. Yankovic agreed to appear because, having created his own mock-biography in The Compleat Al (1985) (V), he decided it would be fun to have someone do a serious biography on him.

Has been a vegetarian ever since 1992, when a fan presented him with the book "Diet for a New America" at one of Al's concerts...while Yankovic was still on stage!

As a rule, all parody ideas are his, with one exception: "Like a Surgeon" came about from a comment Madonna made asking when he was going to turn "Like a Virgin" into that parody.

Is an only child.

Said he knew he'd made it as a famous musician when he went to a party, saw Paul McCartney and before he could introduce himself to the former Beatle, McCartney recognized him and said, "Hey! It's Weird Al!"

One of the few artists to consistently turn down Yankovic's requests to do parodies has been Prince. Originally, Yankovic envisioned the theme song to UHF as a parody of "Let's Go Crazy" and reportedly wanted to do a parody of "Purple Rain" called "Acid Rain." After years of asking, Yankovic was finally granted *video* parody permission, and so the video for the song "UHF" includes a segment parodying Prince's bathtub sequence in the video for "When Doves Cry". The song "Amish Paradise" also contains the lyric "So tonight we're gonna party like it's 1699", a reference to Prince's hit "1999".

Another artist to have denied parody permission is Paul McCartney. Yankovic wrote a parody of "Live and Let Die" called "Chicken Pot Pie", but McCartney (a staunch vegetarian) denied permission. As a result, Yankovic has never released the song, but has performed it in concert.

Has directed music videos by other artists, most notably the boy-band Hanson.

Says his most frequent question by reporters is "Do you write any original songs?" The irony is that roughly half of his material (since his very first album) is original--sometimes parodying the *style* of an artist, but not based on any existing melody or lyrics.

Has composed a parody of Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire," called "Who Fixed Your Attire?" The parody has played on the radio, but not on any of Yankovic's albums...to date.

Along with his trademark song parodies, most of his albums include a track in which Al and his band perform polka-style (but lyrically faithful) renditions of popular hits (he is an accordionist, after all). Most of these have been eclectic medleys of recent hits, although the "Hot Rocks Polka" (from the UHF (1989) Soundtrack) was a collection of Rolling Stones hits, and the "Alapalooza" album featured a complete polka version of Queen's classic "Bohemian Rhapsody", called "Bohemian Polka".

His offical website, WeirdAl.com, is maintained by his long-time drummer, Jon Schwartz (a.k.a. "Bermuda" Schwartz).

When he asked Nirvana for permission to parody "Smells Like Teen Spirit", their first question was, "Will it be about food?". When Yankovic explained that "Smells Like Nirvana" would be about how nobody could understand their singing, they agreed that it sounded funny and granted permission.

His album covers are frequently parodies as well: Michael Jackson's "Bad" album was spoofed as "Even Worse" (Yankovic even hired the same photo, artwork, and wardrobe team to replicate the cover precisely);

Nirvana's "Nevermind" became "Off The Deep End" (with Al replicating the naked baby in the pool photo himself); and the Jurassic Park (1993) soundtrack was turned into "Alapalooza".

His video for "Fat" was filmed in the same parking garage as Michael Jackson's "Bad", and included several of the same actors and dancers.

He used the money he earned from "My Bologna" to found his own short-lived record label, Placebo Records, which released his second record (an "EP" record with only 4 songs). Copies of the record are hot collector's items.

The contract that allows his records to be released by record companies outside the US also grants permission for those companies to use other cover artwork. As a result, some truly bizarre covers have been produced, particularly in Japan and other non-English-speaking areas.

During the height of his "Eat It" fame, he spoofed Michael Jackson's Pepsi sponsorship by appearing briefly in a Diet Coke commercial. The spot showed a figure from the back, in a "Thriller"-style jacket, who then turned to reveal it was Al.

Was offered the opening spot for the European leg of Michael Jackson's "Bad" tour. However, he was involved in the production of his movie "UHF" at the time, and respectfully declined

Has released his own version of "Peter and the Wolf"; this is a collaboration with electronic-music-pioneer Wendy Carlos.

Trade mark
A Hawaiian Shirt and (until 1997) glasses.

Frequently makes reference to the number 27.

Writes songs about food, television shows and romances that end in bloodshed.

Performs polka style medleys of songs that have no connection with each other, as if randomly chosen.

Often features a celebrity guest appearance in his music videos (such as Florence Henderson in "Amish Paradise", Ruth Buzzi and Pat Boone in "Gump" and Dick Van Patten in "Smells Like Nirvana".

Spouse
Suzanne Krajewski (10 February 2001 - present) 1 child