April 20, 2011 - Comedy artist Weird Al Yankovic, whose first hit was in 1984 with a Michael Jackson parody called "Eat It," has a new album due out this summer. In the above video, he noted that intended to include this new parody of Lady Gaga called "Perform This Way" on his new album, but was denied by the subject of his spoof, until what many believe was an internet backlash from fans last night.
From his wordpress blog, he explained that his "saga with Gaga" was a strange and dissapointing one, that is, until last night when Lady Gaga had a change of heart.
Before Lady Gaga changed her tune, Al explained that he wrote and recorded what he believed was going to be the first cornerstone single of his return album. But after Lady Gaga's people actually heard the track, they decided not to give him their blessing to release the song.
As the story goes, when Yankovic approached Gaga's management team about the song, they said they would only give permission after the track was totally recorded and produded so they could actually hear it, even though they already had the lyrics in hand. So Yankovic quickly recorded a rough for Gaga, which he typically does not do. Normally, artists consider it an honor to be spoofed by legendary Weird Al and it is well-known that his songs are basically a remake of the original song with different lyrics. ANyhow, because he believed in the song, he obiliged, and was still denied.
Being a comedy act allows him to release the song anyhow, but Al says that he does not do that without the nod from the original artist. After feeling disrespected, however, Al stated on his site, "It has always been my personal policy to get the consent of the original artist before including my parodies on any album, so of course I will respect Gaga’s wishes. However, given the circumstances, I have no problem with allowing people to hear it online, because I also have a personal policy not to completely waste my stinking time." Therefore, he uploaded the track to Youtube early in the morning yesterday for his fans to enjoy free.
All day on April 20th, fans listened to the track and began their pleas to Lady Gaga. By six that evening, a different voice came from Camp Gaga. This one stated that Gaga had never actually heard the track herself and her management had screened it on their own and denied the track. Lady Gaga stated that she was, in fact, a Weird Al fan and would not, "get in the way to block the parody."
Since then tweets and an update to this Youtube video show that the show is back on and that Weird Al will putting out the spoof that the fans have demanded. A release date for the album featuring the Gaga track, "will soon be announced."
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