“Weird Al” Yankovic earns first No. 1 album, first comedy album to go No. 1 in 54 years
For all intents and purposes, “Weird Al” Yankovic literally took over the Internet in the last week, releasing not one, not two, but eight expertly-crafted music videos in support of his new album, Mandatory Fun. All that hard work has paid off (literally), as the comedian has earned his first-ever No. 1 album. Not only that, but Mandatory Fun is the first comedy album to debut No. 1 in 54 (!) years.
According to Billboard, Yankovic’s 14th LP moved 104,700 copies in its first week. The success is largely attributed to the viral success of those eight aforementioned videos, which received more than 20 million cumulative views during their initial week of release. Ironically enough, Yankovic’s label, RCA, refused to pay for the videos, so instead the comedian partnered with sites such as Funny or Die, College Humor, and Nerdist to help bring his project to fruition.
Yankovic has two previously top 10 albums in 2006’s Straight Outta Lynwood and 2011’s Alpocalypse. His previous best sales week, when Straight Outta Lynwood sold 73,000 copies in its first week.