Age, Biography, and Wiki
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic was born on October 23, 1959, in Downey, California. He began his career in the late 1970s, initially recording parodies on cassette tapes and mailing them to radio stations. His breakthrough came with the parody of The Knack's "My Sharona," titled "My Bologna." This marked the beginning of a successful career spanning multiple decades.
| Occupation | Accordionist |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 23 October 1959 |
| Age | 65 Years |
| Birth Place | Downey, California, U.S. |
| Horoscope | Libra |
| Country | U.S |
Height, Weight & Measurements
While specific details about his height and weight are not widely reported, Yankovic is known for his tall stature and distinctive appearance, which has been a part of his comedic persona throughout his career.
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Dating & Relationship Status
"Weird Al" Yankovic has been married to Suzanne Krajewski since February 10, 2001. They have one daughter, Nina Yankovic, born on February 9, 2003.
He was raised in nearby Lynwood, California. Nick Yankovic began living in California after earning two Purple Hearts for his service as a medic during World War II. He believed "the key to success" was "doing for a living whatever makes you happy" and often reminded his son of this philosophy. Yankovic's mother, a stenographer from Kentucky of English and Italian descent, married his father in 1949.
Yankovic's first accordion lesson, which sparked his interest in music, took place on the day before his seventh birthday. A door-to-door salesman traveling through Lynwood offered his parents a choice of accordion or guitar lessons at a local music school. Yankovic claims that his parents chose the accordion over the guitar because "they figured there should be at least one more accordion-playing Yankovic in the world"; this was in reference to Frankie Yankovic, to whom he is not related. He has also said that they chose the accordion because "they were convinced it would revolutionize rock". Since his mother did not let him outside the house often, he had plenty of time to practice the instrument at home. He continued lessons at the school for three years before deciding to continue learning on his own.
Yankovic received his first exposure via syndicated comedy radio personality Dr. Demento's Southern California–based radio show, later saying, "If there hadn't been a Dr. Demento, I'd probably have a real job now." Despite his mother having caught him listening to Dr. Demento's program and banning him from listening to it again, he found ways to hear it discreetly. In 1976, Dr. Demento spoke at Yankovic's school, where the 16-year-old Yankovic gave him a homemade cassette tape of original and parody songs performed on the accordion in Yankovic's bedroom into a "cheesy little tape recorder". The tape's first song, "Belvedere Cruisin (about his family's Plymouth Belvedere) was played on Demento's comedy radio show, launching Yankovic's career. Demento said, Belvedere Cruising' might not have been the very best song I ever heard, but it had some clever lines [...] I put the tape on the air immediately." Yankovic also played at local coffeehouses, accompanied by fellow dorm resident Joel Miller on bongos. He recalled in 2007:
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| Husband | Suzanne Krajewski (m. 2001) |
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Net Worth and Salary
As of 2025, "Weird Al" Yankovic's net worth is estimated to be approximately $20 million. This wealth is primarily from his successful music sales, including over 12 million albums worldwide, lucrative tours, merchandise sales, and various endorsement deals. Notably, he turned down a $5 million beer endorsement deal in 1990 to protect his young fan base, which in today's dollars would be equivalent to a $12 million deal.
Career, Business, and Investments
Yankovic's career is marked by numerous hit parodies and original songs. His albums, such as "Mandatory Fun," have been highly successful, with "Mandatory Fun" selling over 1 million copies in its first week of release. Tours like the "Mandatory Fun" tour have generated significant revenue, with the 2014 tour alone raking in over $25 million. He has also invested in various business ventures, including merchandise and concerts, which contribute to his net worth.
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 fourteenth and final studio album, Mandatory Fun (2014), became his first number-one album during its debut week.
In mid-1979, shortly before his senior year, "My Sharona" by the Knack was on the charts, and Yankovic took his accordion into the restroom across the hall from the radio station to take advantage of the echo chamber acoustics and recorded a parody titled "My Bologna". He sent it to Dr. Demento, who played it to good response from listeners. Yankovic met the Knack after a show at his college and introduced himself as the author of "My Bologna". The Knack's lead singer, Doug Fieger, said he liked the song and suggested that Capitol Records vice president Rupert Perry release it as a single. "My Bologna" was released as a single with "School Cafeteria" as its B-side, and the label gave Yankovic a six-month recording contract. Yankovic, who was "only getting average grades" in his architecture degree, began to realize that he might make a career of comedic music.
1981 brought Yankovic on tour for the first time as part of Dr. Demento's stage show. His stage act in a Phoenix, Arizona, nightclub caught the eye of manager Jay Levey, who was "blown away". Levey asked Yankovic if he had considered creating a full band and doing his music as a career. Yankovic admitted that he had, so Levey held auditions. Steve Jay became Yankovic's bass player, and Jay's friend Jim West played guitar. Schwartz continued on drums. Yankovic's first show with his new band was on March 31, 1982. Several days later, Yankovic and his band were the opening act for Missing Persons.
Yankovic recorded "I Love Rocky Road" (a parody of "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" originally recorded by The Arrows), which was produced by Rick Derringer, in 1982. The song was a hit on Top 40 radio, leading to Yankovic's signing with Scotti Brothers Records. In 1983, Yankovic's first self-titled album was released on Scotti Bros. The song "Ricky" (a parody of Toni Basil's hit "Mickey") was released as a single and the music video received exposure on the still-young MTV. "Ricky" broke the top 100 videos on MTV at the time, which Yankovic took as a sign that his career was in music, quitting his job as a mailroom clerk at the local offices of Westwood One to pursue the music career.
Social Network
Yankovic is active on social networks, using platforms like Twitter and Instagram to engage with his fans and promote his work. His social media presence helps maintain his popularity and supports his career by connecting directly with his audience.
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 videos for other artists including Ben Folds, Hanson, the Black Crowes, and the Presidents of the United States of America. With the decline of music television and the onset of social media, he used YouTube and other video sites to publish his videos; this strategy helped boost sales of his later albums. He has not released a full album since Mandatory Fun, opting instead for timely releases of singles.
In addition to his music career, Yankovic wrote and starred in the film UHF (1989) and the television series The Weird Al Show (1997). He has produced two satirical films about his own life, The Compleat Al (1985) and Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022). He has acted in several television shows and web series, in addition to starring in Al TV specials on MTV. He has also written two children's books, When I Grow Up (2011) and My New Teacher and Me! (2013).
It was sort of like amateur music night, and a lot of people were like wannabe Dan Fogelbergs. They'd get up on stage with their acoustic guitar and do these lovely ballads. And I would get up with my accordion and play the theme from 2001. And people were kind of shocked that I would be disrupting their mellow Thursday night folk fest.
By 1992, most of the original songs for Off the Deep End were complete, but Yankovic still did not have a strong parody and was waiting for the next big hit to work from, as he was still in a slump post-UHF. When Jackson released his next album, Dangerous, and its hit single "Black or White", Yankovic had quickly written a parody, "Snack All Night", from it, and hoped Jackson would allow him to use the parody. Jackson denied Yankovic this, as Jackson felt "Black or White" carried a serious message that would be undermined by the parody. Again, Yankovic fell into a mood and delayed release of Off the Deep End without a lead parody. Around this time, Nirvana and the grunge music scene began to take off. Yankovic wrote a parody of Nirvana's hit "Smells Like Teen Spirit", "Smells Like Nirvana", and was able to secure the band's permission for the parody; Nirvana's lead singer Kurt Cobain reportedly said that getting Yankovic to parody their work was a sign their band had "made it". "Smells Like Nirvana" became the lead song on Off the Deep End, landing at No. 35 on the Billboard charts, his second top 40 hit in the United States. Off the Deep End reached No. 17 on the Billboard 200, and helped to revitalize Yankovic's career after the failure of UHF.
Following Straight Out of Lynwood, Yankovic started to explore digital distribution of his songs. On October 7, 2008, Yankovic released to the iTunes Store "Whatever You Like", a parody of the T.I. song of the same title, which Yankovic said he had come up with two weeks before. Yankovic said that the benefit of digital distribution is that "I don't have to wait around while my songs get old and dated—I can get them out on the Internet almost immediately." In 2009, Yankovic released four more songs: "Craigslist" on June 16, "Skipper Dan" on July 14, "CNR" on August 4, and "Ringtone" on August 25. These five digitally released songs were packaged as a digital EP titled Internet Leaks, with "Whatever You Like" retroactively included in the set.
Education
Al Yankovic attended Lynwood High School in Lynwood, California, and later studied architecture at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. However, he did not complete his degree, instead focusing on his music career.
With a career spanning decades and a legacy of humorous parodies, "Weird Al" Yankovic continues to entertain audiences worldwide, maintaining a strong presence in the music industry through his unique style and engaging performances.
Yankovic began kindergarten a year earlier than most children and skipped second grade, later saying, "My classmates seemed to think I was some kind of rocket scientist, so I was labeled a nerd early on." He attended Lynwood High School, where his unusual schooling experience meant he was two years younger than most of his classmates. He was not interested in sports or social events but was active in other extracurricular programs, including the National Forensic League-sanctioned public speaking events; a play based on Rebel Without a Cause; the yearbook, for which he wrote most of the captions; and the Volcano Worshippers club, which he later said did "absolutely nothing" and was started "just to get an extra picture of [themselves] in the yearbook". He graduated in 1976, and was valedictorian of his senior class. He attended California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, earning a bachelor's degree in architecture. After graduation he worked at Westwood One, first in the mail room and then calling stations confirming that paid advertisements had indeed run on air.
During Yankovic's second year as an architecture student at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, he became a disc jockey at KCPR, the university's radio station. Yankovic had been called "Weird Al" originally as a more derogatory nickname from others within the dormitory he shared, as he was seen as the strange outcast compared to other residents. Though he initially took it as an insult, Yankovic eventually "took it on professionally" as his persona for the station. In 1978, he released his first recording (as Alfred Yankovic), "Take Me Down", on the LP Slo Grown, as a benefit for the Economic Opportunity Commission of San Luis Obispo County. The song mocked famous nearby landmarks such as Bubblegum Alley and the waterfall toilets at the Madonna Inn.