Mandatory Fun New Album Update: Weird Al Yankovic Gets First No. 1 Album
Weird Al Yankovic has been in the business for more than 30 years, but his newest album "Mandatory Fun" is the first time he tops the Billboard 200.
The album was released on July 15, and sold 104,000 copies before July 20, notes Billboard.
The day before the album dropped, Weird Al began an online campaign, where he collaborated with different brands and released one video a day for seven days. He started off by parodying Pharrell's big hit, "Happy." Weird Al's version was called "Tacky" and it focused on iffy clothes and behavior.
Weird Al's new album has also sold more albums than the previous largest comedy album, "The Beavis & Butt-Head Experience," which sold 118,000 copies in the week that ended on Jan. 2.
This is the third top 10 album for the singer.
Weird Al spoke about how he got some of the original artists' permission to use their songs.
For Pharrell, he decided to go straight to the source after not hearing from his team, according to Channel 24.
"I somehow got Pharrell's home e-mail address -- I won't say how -- and I e-mailed him and asked if I could do the parody," he said. "He couldn't have been nicer and he said he was honoured to have me do the parody."
For Iggy Azalea, he faced a similar problem, but Weird Al decided to go to her Denver concert and wait to ask her.
"I talked to her as she was literally walking offstage. I introduced myself, 'Hi. I'm Weird Al Yankovic and I would love to do a parody of Fancy, he said. "The next morning I was in the studio recording."
The singer spoke to the Associated Press recently and explained that the week of the album's release was amazing for him.
Because he had a video campaign to go along with the album, many asked if Beyoncé was his inspiration, but Weird Al reminded everyone that this is something he did for his 2011 album.
"I'm sure I wasn't the first one to do that, but I did it before Beyonce," he said. "I just want to set the record straight."
But Beyoncé is on his list of celebrities he would like to parody.
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