Al Yankovic
Alfred Matthew Yankovic was born on October 23, 1959, in Downey, California, a city in Los Angeles County that sits firmly within the sprawling cultural landscape of Southern California. Growing up in that environment, he went on to attend Lynwood High School before continuing his education at California Polytechnic State University, building the foundations for a career that would cross several creative disciplines.
Yankovic works as a musician, songwriter, singer-songwriter, comedian, satirist, actor, record producer, music video director, and impressionist — a range that places him across pop and comedy rock. His output in English has earned him multiple Grammy Awards: one for Best Comedy Album, one for Best Concept Music Video, and one for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package. That tally of Grammy recognition speaks to the breadth of formats his work has taken, from studio albums to visual productions to packaged releases. He also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a concrete marker of his standing in American entertainment.
As of the time of writing, Yankovic remains a living and active figure in American popular culture, still identified as a citizen of the United States and based in the country where his career took shape. His association with both pop music and comedy rock continues to define the genre categories his work occupies, and the Grammy Awards he has collected over the years stand as the most tangible measure of the recognition his recordings and videos have received within the music industry.
Quotes by Al Yankovic
Al Yankovic's insights on:
Like, I have had moments, which I think most people have, where you'll be watching TV, and it'll be interrupted by some tragic event, and you'll actually find yourself thinking, 'I don't want to hear about this train being derailed! What happened to 'The Flintstones?'
My personal taste doesn’t enter into it a lot when I make my decisions as to what to parody.
I’ve done a movie and a TV series, and someday I’d like to do a successful movie and a successful TV series. That would be nice.
As much as people are griping about the Internet taking sales away from artists, it’s been a huge promotional tool for me.
If I could find the right kind of property, get tied in with the right movie, I’d love to be involved, but I just find it hard to be motivated to do another screenplay right now.
I don’t really look at myself as the kind of person who craves attention, but I’ve never been to therapy so there’s probably a lot of stuff about myself that I don’t know.
Got a brand new semi-automatic weapon with a laser sight. Oh, I’m praying that somebody tries to break in here tonight.
When I started out, I didn’t feel like I was really accepted in the music or comedy communities, and I was somewhere on the edge, but now I feel like I’m accepted in both, which is extremely gratifying.
I think I’m equally as abusive as the editors normally are for the “Letters and Tomatoes” column, which is the fan mail part of MAD Magazine and an ongoing feature.
When I go to my live shows it’s often a multigenerational audience, a family bonding experience.