Weird Al is enjoying his rock-star moment

Weird Al Yankovic performs during their show at Madison Square Garden in New York on July 12, 2025.When Weird Al Yankovic, the country’s foremost song parodist for the last 40 years, took the stage for his first-ever Madison Square Garden show on Saturday, his accordion got its own ovation. (Peter Fisher/The New York Times)

By Melena Ryzik

When Weird Al Yankovic, the country’s foremost song parodist for the past 40 years, took the stage for his first-ever Madison Square Garden show last month, his accordion got its own ovation. “Are you ready to polka?!” he shouted, and the sold-out crowd cheered as he dived into an altered medley of hits. (“Old Town Road” really shines atop an oompah beat.)

With videos and elaborate costumes, the Bigger & Weirder tour showcased his enduringly singular, lampoonery-filled pop culture stardom.

Along with his signature instrument, he played the keyboard, melodica and harmonica, and with a tight backing band — many of its members have been with him for decades — performed some of his biggest numbers: his first single, “My Bologna,” from 1979 (to the tune of the Knack’s “My Sharona”); “Like a Surgeon” (a la Madonna’s “Like a Virgin,” but in scrubs); and “Smells Like Nirvana,” in full Kurt Cobain grunge regalia.

At 65, Weird Al still commands the stage like a natural-born rocker, with high kicks and the panache to pull off what few other artists can (including a fat suit).

During “Eat It,” a riff on Michael Jackson’s “Beat It,” audience members — many in Hawaiian shirts and sporting curly locks — were on their feet. Even a seen-it-all security guard danced. For “White & Nerdy,” Weird Al arrived via scooter, to the thump of Chamillionaire’s “Ridin’.” Father-son pairs, arm-in-arm, knew every lyric.

Weird Al has sold over 12 million albums and won five Grammys: He had a No. 1 album in 2014 with “Mandatory Fun.” His career has, surprisingly, continued to surge.

Amid the jokes during his Madison Square Garden show, he took time to savor his achievements.

“Oftentimes really big moments in your life come and go so quickly that you can’t really enjoy them while you’re in them,” he said, and he paused as the arena’s house lights rose.

The tour, with a “Star Wars”-themed finale involving storm troopers and R2-D2, is Weird Al’s biggest production ever. But it’s not all pastiche: He did some original (and funny) numbers, and a cover of Paul Simon’s “You Can Call Me Al” that showed off his tenor and rhythm.

His 2014 song “Word Crimes” — a parody of “Blurred Lines” that criticizes bad grammar (“I don’t want your drama / If you really wanna / Leave out that Oxford comma”) — is like an ethos: Get the words right! That’s joy.