Weird Al Yankovic | Under the Radar Magazine Under the Radar | Music Blog for the Indie Music Magazine
Monday, December 9th, 2024  

News

Aug 13, 2024

Los Angeles punk band The Linda Lindas are releasing their second full-length release, No Obligation, on October 11 via Epitaph. Now they have shared its newest single, “Yo Me Estreso,” which features “Weird Al” Yankovic on accordion. More

“Weird Al” Yankovic Shares New Single “Polkamania!” (Plus Read Our Interview with Him About It)

New Polka Jam Includes Songs by Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Lil Nas X, Billie Eilish, Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars, and More

Jul 19, 2024

Comedy music legend “Weird Al” Yankovic has shared a new single, “Polkamania!,” which is a polka jam medley of some of the biggest pop songs of the last decade. It was shared via a music video and the track includes songs by Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Lil Nas X, Billie Eilish, Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars, and more. Also, today we posted our interview with Yankovic about the single and his career as a whole. More

“Weird Al” Yankovic Shares New Song “Now You Know” (+Stream Biopic Soundtrack)

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story Soundtrack and Film Out Today

Nov 04, 2022

“Weird Al” Yankovic has released an official soundtrack for Weird: The Al Yankovic Story today, coinciding with the film’s release, which is available to stream today via Roku Channel. The soundtrack features a new original song, “Now You Know.” More

Watch Daniel Radcliffe in the Official Trailer For Upcoming “Weird Al” Yankovic Biopic

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story Due Out November 4 via Roku Channel

Aug 29, 2022

The official trailer has been shared for the upcoming “Weird Al” Yankovic biopic, Weird: The “Weird Al” Yankovic Story. The film, co-written by Yankovic himself alongside director Eric Appel, stars Daniel Radcliffe (as Yankovic) and Evan Rachel Wood. It will be available to stream November 4 via Roku Channel. More

Daniel Radcliffe Set to Portray “Weird Al” Yankovic in Upcoming Biopic

The Funny or Die-Produced Film Will Stream on Roku Channel

Jan 18, 2022

Daniel Radcliffe is set to star as comedian and artist “Weird Al” Yankovic in the upcoming biopic, Weird: The “Weird Al” Yankovic Story. The film, co-written by Yankovic himself alongside director Eric Appel, is a Funny or Die and Tango co-production which will stream exclusively via The Roku Channel. Filming will take place beginning next month. More

Watch The Postal Service Audition Anne Hathaway, Japanese Breakfast, Huey Lewis, and More

Amusing Voter Video Also Features Patton Oswalt, Kenny G, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Bret McKenzie (of Flight of the Conchords), Vanessa Bayer, Caroline Polachek, Tunde Adebimpe (of TV on the Radio), and Others

Oct 07, 2020

Yesterday on social media The Postal Service teased that something was coming today. Calm down, no it’s not a long awaited new album from Ben Gibbard, Jimmy Tamborello, and Jenny Lewis. Instead they have shared an amusing video to encourage you to vote in which various notable people audition to join the band via Zoom, including Anne Hathaway, Michelle Zauner (aka Japanese Breakfast), Huey Lewis, Patton Oswalt, Kenny G, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Bret McKenzie (of Flight of the Conchords), Vanessa Bayer, Caroline Polachek, Tunde Adebimpe (of TV on the Radio), J Mascis, and others. More

Sep 30, 2020

“Weird Al” Yankovic has teamed up with The Gregory Brothers for the song and video “We’re All Doomed,” which hilariously takes last night’s disastrous presidential debate between President Trump and former Vice President Biden and turns it into an Auto-Tuned song, with Yankovic as the freaked out moderator intercut with actual footage from the debate. More

Watch Bob Odenkirk, David Cross, Bryan Cranston, + More cover “Weird Al” Yankovic’s “Eat It”

Parody Video Also Features Fred Armisen, Sarah Silverman, Al Franken, Patton Oswalt, Jack Black, and Others

May 14, 2020

A boat load of comedians have covered “Weird Al” Yankovic’s “Eat It” (which itself is a parody of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”). They include Bob Odenkirk, David Cross, Bryan Cranston, Fred Armisen, Sarah Silverman, Al Franken, Patton Oswalt, Jack Black, and Yankovic himself. More

Under the Radar Announces My Favorite Album Issue with Angel Olsen and Sleater-Kinney Covers

Issue 66 Features Musicians and Actors on Their All-Time Favorite Albums, including Tegan and Sara, Wilco, Weyes Blood, Sigur Rós, Fred Armisen, Topher Grace, Jay Baruchel, Low, and more

Sep 27, 2019

Under the Radar is excited to announce the My Favorite Album Issue, our new print issue in which we speak to musicians and actors about their all-time favorite album. The issue features Angel Olsen and Sleater-Kinney on the two covers and is available to buy directly from us here, as well as being distributed in stores nationwide (on newsstands, in such stores as Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million, and elsewhere). More

Weezer Share Video for Cover of Toto’s “Africa” Starring “Weird Al” Yankovic

Video Recreates Weezer's "Undone - The Sweater Song" Video, With Yankovic as Rivers Cuomo

Sep 24, 2018

The Weezer covering Toto’s “Africa” thing has gotten even sillier. Now Weezer has shared a video for their cover that stars “Weird Al” Yankovic, the greatest music parody artist of the 1980s (and perhaps any decade), as Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo in a recreation of Weezer’s 1994 video for “Undone - The Sweater Song.” More

Feb 12, 2015

“Weird Al” Yankovic will join forces with Alfred E. Neuman in the team-up of “Als” that comedy fans have been dreaming of for decades. More

Jan 20, 2015

With his latest—and officially last—album Mandatory Fun earning him his first ever No. 1 spot on the Billboard charts, parody legend “Weird Al” Yankovic has announced plans for a massive victory lap tour this year. More

Under the Radar Announces Best of 2014 Issue with St. Vincent on the Cover

Issue 52 Also Includes Interviews with Jenny Lewis, The War on Drugs, James Franco, Ariel Pink vs. Panda Bear, Jason Schwartzman vs. Real Estate, the Cast of The Walking Dead, "Weird Al" Yankovic, The Flaming Lips, Sharon Van Etten, and More.

Dec 19, 2014

Under the Radar is excited to announce the full details of the Best of 2014 Issue, which is about to hit newsstands and will be out all of January and February. It features St. Vincent on the cover and interviews with some of the artists behind 2014’s best albums. More

Jul 17, 2014

In case you’ve been away from the internet all week, “Weird Al” Yankovic has released a new video every day from his new, and reportedly final, full-length LP Mandatory Fun. Yankovic plans to release a new video every day for the next eight days. So far, each video has gone viral. “Word Crimes,” the English major riff on Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” has already exceeded four million views on YouTube. More



Interviews

Jul 19, 2024

For the past 40-plus years, the Downey, California-born “Weird Al” Yankovic has been bringing laughter to music listeners through his signature parody songs and polka medleys. From Michael Jackson riffs like “Eat It” and “Fat” to Madonna parodies such as “Like a Surgeon,” and the famous Coolio parody, “Amish Paradise,” “Weird Al” knows how to strike a nerve and perk an ear. In so doing, he’s earned a handful of Grammy Awards and sold more than 12 million albums. More

Nov 04, 2022

How weird would it be to play “Weird Al” Yankovic? The “Eat It” and “White and Nerdy” singer is so renowned for hilariously reinterpreting hit songs, how could an actor possibly reinterpret this singular satirist in a big-screen satire? More

My Favorite Album: “Weird Al” Yankovic on Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”

"I decided to go all-in for Elton—I plastered my entire room with his posters."

Mar 10, 2020

When “Weird Al” Yankovic attended Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road farewell tour last year at the Los Angeles Forum, it felt like things had come full circle. More

“Weird Al” Yankovic

Unconventially Unconventional

Mar 04, 2015

Following more than three decades as the premier maestro of musical parody, “Weird Al” Yankovic suddenly finds himself having the best year of his career. His 2014 release, Mandatory Fun, was the yuckster-accordionist’s first Billboard #1 Album. More


Reviews

Nov 17, 2014

Shout! Factory give “Weird Al” Yankovic’s UHF a proper deluxe treatment befitting the film’s quarter-centennial. More

Dec 08, 2009

If you’re inclined to look down on the concept of “essential” “Weird Al,” don’t. In a career spanning nearly 30 years, Weird Al has surpassed the Dr. Demento show that spawned him as a cultural institution; survived and thrived while the artists he’s parodied have faded to obscurity; stayed consistently funny while SNL continues to tank; and become a modern musical icon to rival just about any other of his time, so widely recognized that even your mom knows who he is. More