(Photos/ArtsBlooming.org)
Weird Al Yankovic took over the Internet this year, releasing eight expertly crafted music videos from his new album Mandatory Fun. Now all that hard work has paid off, as the comedian-musician has earned his first-ever #1 album. By selling 104,000 copes in its first week, Mandatory Fun also became the first comedy album to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200 since 1963. The album’s success is largely attributed to the viral success of those eight aforementioned videos–which, ironically, Yankovic’s label refused to fund. Joke’s on you, RCA!
Here is my personal favorite, the mash up/parody of Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy” into Al’s song “Handy:
Weird Al Yankovic has announced that he is hitting the road with five dates in Las Vegas beginning on May 12. The tour will also include stops in cities including Nashville, Boston, Atlanta, and BLOOMINGTON Illinois, before heading north for a handful of dates in Ontario and Nova Scotia in July.
(This is Al sitting in Tina’s old office before a show years ago in Chicago)
Tina Salamone, Artistic Director of the Bloomington Center For the Performing Arts, stopped by our studio to explain how we managed to get this huge star to do date in our wonderful community!
Click HERE for the podcast.
Ticket prices are $39, $42, $57 and $62. Special VIP Ticket Packages and Fan Club pre-sales will be held at weirdal.com starting Tuesday, Jan. 27 at 10 am CST.
Tickets go on sale to the general public Friday, Jan. 30 at 10 am through artsblooming.org and the BCPA Ticket Office. For advance ticket purchase opportunities, become a BCPA Arts Partner by calling 309.434.2766 today!
These tickets will go VERY FAST, so act quickly and I will see you there in May.
I have been blessed to see AL many times on stage and interview him on WBNQ previously. To say he is amazing on stage is an absolute understatement. Once you have seen him live, you are a fan for life!
Click HERE to listen to a 1999 interview I did with him on WBNQ before his show in Peoria. This is part of a fun flashback for our 40th Anniversary year here at the station, it is a clip from the “Susan and Fasig” show.
Susan Saunders 1-21-15
