Weird Al Yankovic's viral parodies propel him to top of the charts
Mandatory Fun sells 104,000 copies in first week, videos garner more than 46 million views
Weird Al Yankovic is laughing all the way to the top of the charts after his new album Mandatory Fun sells 104,000 copies in its first week, making him No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard charts and No. 3 in Canada.
That's a personal best for the Grammy-winning parodist, who's been making comedy albums for more than 30 years.
His renewed relevance was no doubt boosted by his clever "8 videos in 8 days" campaign which released daily Vevo and YouTube videos parodying top hits like Happy and Royals. The collection garnered huge media attention and racked up more than 46 million views online.
Viewers have clicked on Yankovic's Word Crimes video – a grammatically correct send-up of Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines – more than 10 million times alone.
Weird Al Yankovic is the biggest-selling comedy recording artist in history with over 12 million albums sold.