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‘Weird Al’ Yankovic on His Unexpected Longevity, Biggest Tour Ever & Creative Freedom: ‘Nobody Owns Any Piece of Me’

Weird Al Yankovic on embarking on his bigger tour ever, maintaining his creative freedom throughout his career and his longstanding influence on pop.

(“It’s going to look almost exactly the same as it did before, except it cost a fortune!”) The 65-year-old artist’s one attempt at rock star behavior, back in his early-’80s heyday, was comically un-vain: On a touring rider, he requested, in the spirit of Van Halen’s famed ban on brown M&M’S, “one really horrible Hawaiian shirt for every show I did.” (On that run, he did 200, and a collection that now extends to a storage unit somewhere in greater L.A. Since then, Yankovic’s understanding of the promotional power of visuals has remained prescient — take when, leading up to Mandatory Fun ’s arrival, he insisted on releasing a music video on YouTube each day (not all at once, as some advised) to whet fans’ appetites for the album. He figures he’ll put out a single here and there, contribute to soundtracks if he’s asked and, as always, remain open to what may come — like making a surprise appearance last November to duet with Will Forte on Chappell Roan’s “Hot To Go!” at a charity event or developing a Broadway Weird Al jukebox musical that he says is in the very earliest creative stages, a “bucket list” project.

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