At this point I've got a bit of a track record. So people realize that when 'Weird Al' wants to go parody, it's not meant to make them look bad... it's meant to be a tribute.
– Al Yankovic
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.
– Al Yankovic
I grew up in L.A. - in fact, my name spelled backwards is L.A. Isn't that just fascinating? And I've been into music since I was very young. I'm gonna say... embryo.
– Al Yankovic
I'm still a geek on the inside, that's the important thing.
– Al Yankovic
In a genre where most of the artists are one-hit wonders, I've been able to hang around longer than most serious acts. I pride myself in being a very talented leech.
– Al Yankovic
What kind of morons do you have working at newspapers in Austin that would base an entire review of an artist's performance on whether or not they had a good seat?
– Al Yankovic
When I go to my live shows it's often a multigenerational audience, a family bonding experience.
– Al Yankovic
So that's why one of my rules of parody writing is that it's gotta be funny regardless of whether you know the source material. It has to work on its own merit.
– Al Yankovic
People never ask people doing serious music, 'Do you ever think about doing funny music?'
– Al Yankovic
One of my pet peeves is that sometimes the talents of my band get overlooked because, and it was the same problem that Frank Zappa had, with a lot of groups that use humor, people don't realize there's a lot of craft behind the comedy.
– Al Yankovic
It's hard to force creativity and humor.
– Al Yankovic
In the '80s, I was putting out an album virtually every year, I think mostly based on fear - that if I didn't, people would soon forget about me.
– Al Yankovic
I have a long-standing history of respecting artists' wishes.
– Al Yankovic
As my father used to tell me, the only true sign of success in life is being able to do for a living that which makes you happy.