Eat it, competitors! Weird Al just claimed his first No. 1 album.
The hilarious performer released his latest album Mandatory Fun on Tuesday, July 15, and the record just topped the Billboard 200. This is the first time Weird Al Yankovic, 54, has achieved such a feat in his 35-year career.
"It's official," Weird Al tweeted in the early hours of Wednesday morning, July 23. "MANDATORY FUN enters the Billboard album chart this week at #1. Wow. WOW."
"If you'd told me 30 years ago this would happen, I never would've believed it," he continued. "If you'd told me 2 WEEKS ago, I never would've believed it."
Mandatory Fun is Weird Al's 14th studio album, and his first since 2011's Alpocalypse. The project was buoyed by his takes on smash hits such as a flip on Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" called "Word Crimes," a reinvention of Pharrell Williams' "Happy" as "Tacky," and "Handy," a spin on Iggy Azalea and Charli XCX's "Fancy." Weird Al created additional buzz by releasing eight of his new music videos in eight consecutive days.
Mandatory Fun took the No. 1 spot with 104,700 copies sold. The album beat out Jason Mraz's Yes!, the new album Strange Desire from Jack Antonoff's side project Bleachers, and Rise Against's Black Market.
Born Alfred Matthew Yankovic, Weird Al may just be going out with a bang. The veteran performer said in an interview with the AP this week that his new album may be his last.
"I hate to draw lines in the sand and say this is absolutely the last album, but it sure looks that way," he told the AP. "It's the end of my record deal. I've been under contract since 1982 and I just kind of feel like especially with the kind of music that I do, the album format isn't the best way to deliver that music… I'm going to try to jump on new hits and new trends as soon as I can and try to be a little bit more competitive with everybody else in the world on YouTube."
Weird Al, who has parodied everyone from Madonna to Michael Jackson to the Beastie Boys to Lorde, did not take his usual note of humor over the news of the album's success, but rather, expressed genuine gratitude this week.
"I'm so pleased everybody is enjoying the album, and I'm enormously grateful for everyone's support," Weird Al added on Wednesday morning. "Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU."
