“Weird Al” Yankovic
Alfred Matthew Yankovic is an American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, satirist, actor, music video director, and author. He is known for humorous songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts. 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 latest album, Mandatory Fun, became his first No. 1 album during its debut week.
About “Weird Al” Yankovic in brief
Alfred Matthew Yankovic is an American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, satirist, actor, music video director, and author. He is known for humorous songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts. 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. 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 and single were both released in 2006, nearly three decades into his career. His latest album, Mandatory Fun, became his first No. 1 album during its debut week. He has written two children’s books, When I Grow Up and My New Teacher and Me!. He has also 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. In the 1970s, he was a big fan of Elton John and claims John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album was partly how he learned to play rock ‘n roll on the accordions. He believes that the key to success is ‘doing for a living whatever makes you happy’ and often reminded his son of this philosophy. He was born in Downey, California, on October 23, 1959, the only child of Mary Elizabeth and Nick Yankovich.
His father was of Slovene descent and began living in California after earning two Purple Hearts for his service as a medic during World War II. His mother, who was a stenographer of English and Italian descent, married his father in 1949. She had come to California from Kentucky and gave birth to him 10 years later. He began a year earlier than most children and skipped second grade, saying, “My classmates seemed to think I was some kind of rocket scientist so I was labeled a nerd.” He is not related to his brother, Frankie Yanksovic, to whom he is notrelated to. He claims that his parents chose the accordion over the guitar because “they figured there should be at least one more accordion-playing Yankedovic in the world’s world” He is a fan of Mad magazine, Monty Python, and George Carlin’s FM & AM album. He had transcribed it by typewriter himself, and had also enjoyed comedy albums like The Dr. Demento Show, Dr. Martin, and Dr. No. He said that he was not interested in sports or social events at school, so he did not attend most of his classmates’ sporting events. He attended Lynwood High School, where his unusual schooling meant he was two years younger than his classmates. He went on to study at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he was also a member of the debating club.
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