Weird Al’s parody song “Eat It” from 1984 was definitely an early breakout for his career. It appeared on his second studio album, Weird Al Yankovic in 3-D. This dropped the year after Michael Jackson released “Beat It” as a single. The success of that song would allow Weird Al to parody Jackson again in 1988. But it also carried weight when he wanted to parody other big hits later.
Speaking with Conan O’Brien in 2016, Weird Al revealed what it was like to have a Michael Jackson parody as his breakout hit. Additionally, he described meeting Jackson for the first time, a moment that was achieved because Jackson actually enjoyed Al’s parodies.
“There’s a document somewhere with Michael Jackson’s signature next to mine saying we are the co-writers of ‘Eat It’,” Al said when asked about getting Jackson’s “blessing” to make the song. “It’s a legal thing.”
When asked if he got to meet Jackson, Al said, “I did, two or three times.” He added, “He [was] very nice, very soft spoken, but it’s not like you’re meeting a human.” Expressing this with an audible question mark in his voice, Al earned chuckles from the studio audience.
Weird Al Explains Michael Jackson’s Vibe as ‘Alien’, But Not Like ‘Extraterrestrial’
“I don’t mean this in a bad way,” Weird Al was quick to clarify. “But he was so bigger than life, he was so iconic. It’s almost like you’re meeting an alien, or you’re meeting a statue from Madame Tussaud’s. Like, you can’t possibly be real!”
Conan O’Brien then asked if Jackson ever invited Al to his infamous California home, Neverland Ranch. Al chuckled, said, “He did,” then looked like he was choosing the best possible way to continue.
“I think it was at a point where it wouldn’t have been cool to go,” Al landed on. With some awkward chuckling from Al and the audience, O’Brien decided, “Maybe I should leave that alone.”
As for the impact that “Eat It” had on Weird Al’s career, he said he became a celebrity basically overnight. He went from being a “faceless jerk from L.A. that made silly songs” to being “a very well-known jerk from L.A. that made silly songs.”
Of course, joking aside, “Eat It” was Al’s first Top 40 hit in the U.S., peaking at No. 12 on the charts. When it went to No. 1 in Australia, it remained his highest charting single until “White & Nerdy” in 2006.
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