As his mother would not let him outside the house very often, he had plenty of time to practice the instrument at home. Additionally, he said that they chose the accordion because "they were convinced it would revolutionize rock". 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", referring to Frankie Yankovic, to whom he is not related. A door-to-door salesman traveling through Lynwood offered his parents a choice of accordion or guitar lessons at a local music school.
Yankovic's first accordion lesson, which sparked his interest in music, took place on the day before his seventh birthday. She had come to California from Kentucky a decade before Yankovic was born. Yankovic's mother, who was a stenographer of English and Italian descent, married his father in 1949. He believed "the key to success" was "doing for a living whatever makes you happy" and often reminded his son of this philosophy. His father, who was born in the Strawberry Hill neighborhood of Kansas City, Kansas, was of Serbian descent (the original surname spelling being Janković) and began living in California after earning two Purple Hearts for his service as a medic during World War II.
'Weird Al' Yankovic – Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction?, 7:02, Diffuser.fm Īlfred Matthew Yankovic was born in Downey, California, on October 23, 1959, the only child of Mary Elizabeth (née Vivalda) and Nick Yankovic.
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He has also made guest appearances and performed voice acting roles on many television shows and video web content, in addition to starring in Al TV specials on MTV.
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In addition to recording his albums, Yankovic wrote and starred in the film UHF (1989) and the television series The Weird Al Show (1997). He has stated that he may forgo traditional albums in favor of timely releases of singles from the 2010s onwards. 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 to boost sales of his later albums. He directed later videos himself and went on to direct for other artists, including Ben Folds, Hanson, the Black Crowes, and the Presidents of the United States of America. Yankovic's success comes in part from his effective use of music videos to further parody pop culture, the song's original artist, and the original music videos themselves, scene-for-scene in some cases. His latest album, Mandatory Fun (2014), became his first number-one album during its debut week. 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 work has earned him five Grammy Awards and a further 11 nominations, four gold records, and six platinum records in the U.S. Since having a comedy song aired in 1976, Yankovic has sold more than 12 million albums (as of 2007 ), recorded more than 150 parodies and original songs, and performed more than 1,000 live shows. He also performs original songs that are style pastiches of the work of other acts, as well as polka medleys of several popular songs, most of which feature his trademark accordion. Alfred Matthew "Weird Al " Yankovic ( / ˈ j æ ŋ k ə v ɪ k/ YANG-kə-vik born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, and actor who is known for humorous songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts.