"Weird Al" Yankovic

Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic (born October 23, 1959[1]) is a singer-songwriter known chiefly for his parodies of popular songs, as well as "style parodies" of specific artists or groups. Since 1976, he has sold over 12 million albums and recorded over 150 parodies and original songs. His works have gained him three Grammy Awards (out of nine nominations), four gold records and six platinum records.

Biography

"Weird Al" Yankovic created two Star Wars–themed song parodies, "Yoda" and "The Saga Begins," from his Dare to Be Stupid and Running With Scissors albums respectively. There is also a scene in the video of his hit single "White & Nerdy" in which Al makes a back-alley purchase of a bootlegged VHS of The Star Wars Holiday Special.

During The Weird Al Show, Yankovic planned on green-screening himself into scenes from Star Wars, portraying Luke Skywalker's "annoying younger brother." Though Yankovic got permission from George Lucas and Sir Alec Guinness, he did not get permission from Mark Hamill, and thus scrapped the skit.[3]

Yankovic wrote music and voiced 4-LOM[4] for Seth Green and Matt Senreich's unreleased animated series, Star Wars Detours,[5] and later played Vic Vankoh in LEGO Star Wars Summer Vacation.[6] In the special, he performed the original song "Scarif Beach Party."[7]

Works

Filmography

Year Title Series Contribution(s)
Unreleased Star Wars Detours 4-LOM,[5] songwriter[4]
2022 LEGO Star Wars Summer Vacation Vic Vankoh[6]

Sources

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 This Week in Star Wars logo This Week! in Star Wars The Mandalorian Season Two Hype, Tales from the Galaxy's Edge Action, and More! on the official Star Wars YouTube channel (backup link)
  2. ↑ Premium-Era-real Weird Al Yankovic – Biography by Jason Ankeny on AllMusic (backup link archived on May 7, 2021)
  3. ↑ StarWars.com "Weird Al" -- Nerdy Something on StarWars.com (original site is defunct)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Premium-Era-real Weird Al Reveals He Wrote Half a Dozen Songs For a Musical Episode of Star Wars Detours by John Dodge on ComicBookResources (March 24, 2022) (backup link archived on March 24, 2022)
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Premium-Era-real First Footage Shown from Seth Green and Matt Senreich's Star Wars: Detours Animated Series by Eric Goldman on IGN (August 24, 2012) (backup link archived on May 31, 2020)
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 SWYT-Logo Star Wars Celebration LIVE! - DAY 2 on the official Star Wars YouTube channel (backup link)
  7. ↑ StarWars.com 5 Things We Love About the LEGO Star Wars Summer Vacation Trailer on StarWars.com (backup link)

External links

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