Weird Al Yankovic has taken on everyone from Madonna to Elton John with his legendary parodies, but there’s one music icon he never managed to crack – and it wasn’t for lack of trying. Appearing on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Monday, 9 June, Al opened up about how Prince was the one artist who consistently turned him down, reported NBC News.
At 65, Yankovic has had an impressive run, making parody music a genre of its own, but Prince just never warmed to the idea. “He’s like the one guy that was never into it,” he told Fallon, adding that despite Prince having “a good sense of humour,” it didn’t extend to anyone spoofing his music.
Al revealed that he once heard a bootleg recording of Prince chatting in the studio about Al’s parody of Michael Jackson’s “Bad” – the track Al turned into “Fat” back in the late ’80s. “He said the song and video were really funny,” Al shared. But when it came to letting Al take a swing at his catalogue? Not a chance.
Over the years, Al pitched several ideas to Prince, around half a dozen, but every single one was rejected. The one that still stings a little was a parody of “1999,” which Al had planned to rename “$19.99,” inspired by those late-night telly infomercials. Al said he was excited about the concept, but Prince didn’t even bother to reply.
Prince passed away in 2016 at the age of 57, and out of respect, Al now says he wouldn’t attempt a parody even posthumously. “I try to respect the wishes of the artists,” he explained. “And he made his wishes very, very clear while he was with us.”
While Prince was a hard no, Michael Jackson was the complete opposite. Al has always spoken highly of him, telling Rolling Stone that Jackson was not only on board with the parody ideas but genuinely supportive of them. He even let Al shoot the video for “Fat” on the same subway set used in the original “Bad” video.
Al reminisced about the surreal moment when he first officially met Jackson in person, years after getting approval for “Eat It” in 1984. “There’s a contract somewhere that has his signature next to mine, proving that we are the co-writers of ‘Eat It,’ which is surrealistic in and of itself,” he said.
Their face-to-face meeting finally happened backstage at one of Jackson’s gigs around the time Al released his “Even Worse” album, which featured “Fat.” Al brought along a gold record to present to him. “He was very gracious and thanked me for it and said some nice things,” Al remembered.
But even Jackson had limits. Al said Jackson wasn’t comfortable with a parody of “Black or White,” explaining that he saw it more as a message-driven song and didn’t want it treated lightly. “Which I completely understood,” Al said.
And in the end, Jackson saying no turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Al shifted his focus and ended up parodying Nirvana instead – a move that breathed new life into his career and introduced him to a whole new audience. Sometimes, the nos turn into the biggest wins.