Alfred Matthew Yankovic, when he was six years old, was told by his parents to choose between accordion and guitar lessons. “And my parents being the visionaries that they were said, ‘Oh, young Alfred would love to play the accordion.’”

Alfred, better known as the chart-topping musician, satirist, and beloved nerd Weird Al Yankovic, told Guy in 2022 how that decision had changed his life and decades of popular music to come.

They also discussed how Kurt Cobain had saved Weird Al from a lifetime of spoofing Michael Jackson songs and how intense the process of writing silly songs can be.

Links from the show:

Dr. Demento, Weird Al's early major influence and later employer
"Belvedere Cruising", the first song of Weird Al's to air on Dr. Demento's show
Weird Al playing "My Bologna" in San Luis Obispo in 1979
Eight Weird Al music videos side-by-side with with the songs they spoof
Music video for Weird Al's "Fat"
Weird Al interviewing Patrick Stewart at Comic-Con
Trailer for "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story"

For more conversations like this – with guests ranging from Tom Hanks to Bjork to Jason Sudeikis – go to https://www.thegreatcreators.com.

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Weird Al Yankovic: Achieving Massive Success by Leaning Into His True (Nerdy) Self (2022) 56:02 Share

The Great Creators with Guy Raz

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Weird Al Yankovic: Achieving Massive Success by Leaning Into His True (Nerdy) Self (2022)