"Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, comedian and satirist who is known for parodying other artists' songs and music videos. He is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts. Since his first-aired comedy song in 1976, he had sold more than 12 million albums, recorded more than 150 parody and original songs, and has performed more than 1,000 live shows. His works have earned him three Grammy Awards among nine nominations, four gold records, and six platinum records in the United States.
Yankovic's success comes in part from his effective use of music video to further parody popular culture, the song's original artist, and the original music videos themselves, scene-for-scene in some cases. He directed later videos himself and went on to direct for other artists including Hanson, The Presidents of the United States of America, Nirvana, Coolio, L.V., Red Hot Chili Peppers, Devo, Madonna, Crash Test Dummies, Elvis Presley, James Brown, Greg Kihn, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Michael Jackson, Toni Basil, Extreme, George Michael, Dire Straits, Guns N' Roses, Prince, Robert Palmer, Peter Gabriel, Billy Idol, Talking Heads, INXS, ZZ Top, The Beatles, and Randy Newman. In addition to recording his albums, Yankovic wrote and starred in the film, UHF, and television show, The Weird Al Show.