Weird Al Fans Seek Nationwide Help

Weird Al Fans Seek Nationwide Help With Rock Hall Petition

Cleveland, Ohio (January 18) - As "Weird Al" Yankovic prepares to perform in New Zealand for the first time ever, and in Australia for the first time in over three years, fans of the rock parodist are asking his followers across the two countries to take part in a massive petition drive to help put the chart-topping "Eat It" singer into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Operated and managed solely by fans, the Make the Rock Hall "Weird" campaign is looking for fellow Yankovic admirers to help circulate a petition that will be sent to the Hall of Fame Foundation in New York to urge them to induct the Grammy-winning comedian and singer best known for making fun of Michael Jackson, Chamillionaire, Madonna, Nirvana, and countless others. Fans are particularly needed to take the petition with them to concerts on Yankovic's upcoming spring tour, which begins March 10 at Auckland's St. James Theatre. Interested fans are encouraged to visit the campaign's web site at www.allthingsyank.com/rockhall to volunteer.

"Weird Al is rock and roll's premier satirist, and after nearly thirty years his work is only getting more popular and more critically acclaimed," says fan and organizer Greg Method, explaining why the pop humorist should be inducted. Method's All Things Yankovic web site has hosted the campaign since its July 2004 inception, while thousands of fans in as many as sixteen different countries have participated in past projects.

The campaign is hoping to collect at least 10,000 signatures from fans around the world to show support for Yankovic before the 2008 induction nominees are announced in the fall. The political symbolism of the upcoming year is not lost on the folks behind Make the Rock Hall "Weird," as tongue-in-cheek "Yankovic '08" gear will be made available for sale on the site.

"We've wanted to coordinate this petition drive with Al's new tour all along," says Method. "We couldn't be happier to start this year's campaign with New Zealand and Australia, as Al's fan base there has grown considerably in recent years."

The region has been along for the ride since Yankovic's early days, when the wacky singer found global success with his 1984 Michael Jackson take-off "Eat It." The single would earn a Gold Record and hit #1 in Australia. Yankovic would later receive additional Gold Records from the ARIA for his 1999 album "Running with Scissors" and his 2003 DVD "The Ultimate Video Collection," while his latest albums routinely found their way into the top forty on the ARIA charts.

"If even just a third of the fans who bought 'Running with Scissors' signed our petition," explains Method, "then we would easily meet our worldwide goal."

In March Yankovic will be returning to Australia for the first time since 2003, this time to promote the Grammy-nominated "Straight Outta Lynwood." The concert leg will also have the jokester perform in New Zealand for the first time ever, while his first European trek is expected to follow in April.

Having released his first single, the Knack parody "My Bologna," in 1979, Yankovic has been eligible for Rock Hall induction since 2004. Unfortunately he has been continually ignored by the foundation's nominating committee. The most recent class of artists to receive the honor, including Van Halen and one-time parody target R.E.M., will be inducted March 12 in New York.

If inducted, Yankovic would become the first performer in the Rock Hall representing comedic rock, a sub-genre that includes fictional movie metallers Spinal Tap and actor Jack Black's devil-worshipping Tenacious D.

Such an eclectic mix of folks to have already shown their support for Yankovic on this petition include "Naked Gun" funnyman Leslie Nielsen, "King of Queens" star Patton Oswalt, and such parody targets as the Presidents of the United States of America (whose "Lump" became Yankovic's 1996 hit "Gump") and, ironically, current pop superstar James Blunt. Yankovic made headlines last summer when Atlantic Records prohibited him from releasing his parody of Blunt's smash hit "You're Beautiful," "You're Pitiful," even though he had the British singer's full consent (as he does with all the parodies he records). The song was eventually released as a free download on Yankovic's official web site, Weirdal.com.

Yankovic is as popular and as successful as many of the major acts he's parodied, and his popularity grows with each new album. His latest release, last year's "Straight Outta Lynwood," earned Yankovic not only his highest chart position in "Billboard" but also his best-selling single to date, the Chamillionaire parody "White & Nerdy." Premier music magazine "Rolling Stone" even named another of the album's parodies, the R. Kelly spoof "Trapped in the Drive-Thru," as one of the best songs of 2006. The album is currently nominated for two Grammy Awards, with the awards to be announced February 11.

Yankovic's ardent fan base has already put his increasing popularity to good use, always acting on their own with unprecedented efforts. Method points to two successful letter-writing campaigns to get both Yankovic's 1989 cult comedy "UHF" and his short-lived CBS Saturday morning series "The Weird Al Show" on DVD. And just last year, fans successfully raised enough funds to get Yankovic considered for another key entertainment honor, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

"No other mainstream recording artist has made a successful career out of making fun of rock and roll," concludes Method. "Weird Al most definitely deserves a spot in the hall of fame, and we hope we can count on our fellow fans to help make that happen."

Opened in 1995, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio has honored the most influential performers in the genre. An artist becomes eligible for induction twenty-five years after the release of their first record. According to the museum's web site, the hall's foundation "generally inducts five to seven performers each year."

ENDS

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