‘Weird Al’ Yankovic Received a Demand From Lawyers to Not Make Eye Contact With Prince
Many musical celebrities are delighted to have their songs parodied by “Weird Al” Yankovic. However, the late and great Prince was not. In fact, the “Purple Rain” singer turned down several requests from the accordion-playing parodist. His lawyer even sent Yankovic a telegram advising him not to make eye contact at an awards show.
‘Weird Al’ Yankovic’s response to Prince was priceless
Evidently, Prince’s hesitance to engage visually with fellow artists at one American Music Awards show was not personally directed at Yankovic, who later revealed that everyone seated in Prince’s vicinity received the same telegram.
To his humorous credit, Yankovic’s response to Prince’s outlandish demand was to send the singer a telegram of his own in which he advised Prince not to make eye contact with him either, reported UPROXX.
Many artists appreciated ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic’s work
Inspired by the work of musical comedians Spike Jones and Allen Sherman, Yankovic recorded “My Bologna” in a Cal Poly restroom. He sent the tape to Barry Hansen, the host and namesake of the popular Dr. Demento radio show. Written as a parody of “My Sharona,” the song was the first of many featured on the show. From there, his career prospered.
Yankovic typically obtains permission before releasing a parody song. Artists have denied him a mere “two to three percent” of the time, explains Mental Floss. In fact, Doug Feiger, lead singer of The Knack, championed Yankovic to Columbia Records, who gave Yankovic a six-month recording contract at his advice.
Mental Floss also notes Madonna herself suggested Yankovic parody her song “Like a Virgin” with his rendition entitled “Like a Surgeon.”
Lady Gaga said that having a song parodied by Yankovic is “a rite of passage,” and Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain said you “haven’t really made it until there’s a Weird Al spoof,” reports Stereogum.
Yankovic approached Prince several times. But the Purple One always turned him down. In 2013, Yankovic told TMZ that the rejections didn’t bother him much because Prince had no sense of humor, and plenty of musicians did.
Other musicians who said ‘no’ to ‘Weird Al’
Prince wasn’t the only musician to deny Yankovic. Former Beatle Paul McCartney turned down Yankovic’s request to lampoon “Live and Let Die” because the title “Chicken Pot Pie” would have conflicted with his militant vegetarianism. Led Zeppelin lead guitarist Jimmy Page said ‘no’ to a polka medley of Zep tunes. But he did permit Yankovic to sample “Black Dog” for his “Trapped in the Closet” spoof song.
Rapper Eminem initially said yes to Yankovic’s request to parody “Lose Yourself” as “Couch Potato,” but only in audio form. Because Yankovic’s comical send-ups rely heavily on video, he scrapped the project.
A movie about Weird Al is currently in production. Featuring Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe in the role of Yankovic, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story will stream exclusively on Roku.
