I feel bad because I kind of wrestled this story from CB. We both saw Weird: The Al Yankovic Story and loved it. But I’m a bit of a fangirl for Al (a Weirdling? A Yankook?). His music is fine, but it’s him as a person I get giddy over. Weird Al not only started kindergarten early, he skipped second grade. So he graduated high school – as valedictorian – two years younger than his classmates. And got a BA in architecture from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Cal Poly SLO is a state school, however its architecture program is one of the best in the country. We liberal arts Poly students weren’t allowed in the architecture buildings, we could only steal a peak through the windows and wonder about what was happening in those hallowed halls. (Kidding, we hung outside trying to snag a senior looking to “unwind”.) The point is, Al is a very intelligent and talented man who pursued a degree in architecture at one of the most competitive schools in that field, and ended up with a lucrative musical career no one could have predicted. So how did he get where he is? By standing out. Not vibing with the sports crowd and opting to DJ for the college radio station at Poly rather than getting drunk with the co-eds earned him the derogatory nickname “Weird Al.” Instead of letting them isolate him as the class weirdo, Al reclaimed the word and excelled at being different in a way that made him a five-time Grammy winning, platinum album selling multi-millionaire.
If there’s one thing that “Weird Al” Yankovic knows for sure after four decades in the entertainment business, it’s that weird is the way to go.
“We’re trying to reclaim the word,” Yankovic tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. “Historically it’s been sort of a derogatory thing like, ‘Don’t be weird,’ ‘Oh, that person’s weird,’ like it’s bad to be different. No. That’s what you aspire to. You want to be different. You want to stand out from the crowd. What’s the point of doing the same thing everybody else is doing? Come on, be weird!”
The beloved accordion-playing musician and comedian, who first rose to fame in the ’80s with hits like “Eat It” (a parody of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”) and “Like a Surgeon” (inspired by Madonna’s “Like a Virgin”), has won five Grammys and sold more than 12 million albums.
With no plans to retire, Yankovic, who just celebrated his 63rd birthday, says that although there are “people who still don’t get what I’m trying to do or they think I’m a hack,” he is grateful to his devoted fan base for their unwavering support over the years and what he calls a “comfortable” level of fame.
“I feel extremely accepted. I’ve got great fans that’ve followed me for decades, and they’re extremely supportive,” he says. “I don’t have crowds following me on the street or people going through my garbage when I’m sleeping, but every now and then somebody will recognize me and go, ‘Hey, how you doing? What have you done since “Eat It” ‘?”
“You want to be different. You want to stand out from the crowd.” It’s true. People want to be unique so much we have to keep coming up with new ways to call ourselves weird. For a while it was ‘quirky’ and now those who want to stand out call themselves the ‘obnoxious one.’ While I appreciate Al’s drive to reclaim the word weird, I doubt we’re ever going to embrace it in the way he hopes. But I agree with what he’s saying and different has always appealed more to me than blending in. And I’m all for doing something that brings you joy. What’s funnier is that Al is a sweet, happily married, respectful vegetarian who is beloved by the musicians whose music he’s parodied. The ‘weirdest’ thing about Weird Al is how normal he is in the crazy business of music.
I can’t really talk about Weird without spoiling it. We were told it was a tongue in cheek look at his life but all I can say is you have no idea. And it’s a flipping riot. You keep thinking it’s going to be cheesy, but it gets funnier instead. The cameos are fantastic, Daniel Radcliffe is a dream and Evan Rachel Wood is darling. The whole thing is just so, well, different.
Lastly, I love that Al took a swipe at Pity Me Musk:
Oh no, they suspended @danielradcliffe's Twitter account! Wasn't it obvious he was doing a PARODY???
— Al Yankovic (@alyankovic) November 7, 2022
Humble beginnings: Did you know that prior to his career-defining role as “Weird Al” Yankovic, actor Daniel Radcliffe appeared in a number of movies about a boy wizard, in which he played the title character? #MovieTrivia
— Al Yankovic (@alyankovic) November 8, 2022
Photo credit: Instagram, Twitter, Cover Images and Getty Images
