‘Weird Al’ Yankovic Sets the Record Straight on His Relationship With Madonna

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is just days away from premiering on The Roku Channel, and “Weird Al” Yankovic himself stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to discuss the parody on musician biopics.

Notably, Fallon mentions that Evan Rachel Wood portrays Madonna, who plays a major part in the film. The host then asks Yankovic to reveal the true nature of his relationship with the Queen of Pop. “There are a few little nuggets of truth spread throughout the biopic,” he said. “Our relationship is platonic, by the way. The only time I actually met her was in 1985, and I talked to her for maybe, like, 45 seconds backstage. That’s the extent of the whole relationship.”

“She’s in the whole movie, by the way,” Fallon notes, to which Yankovic replies with a laugh, “Oh, she’s a huge part of the movie.”

The duo then discuss the famous “Yankovic bump,” in which an artist’s song gets a sales boost after Weird Al does a parody. In the film, the concept is hilariously exaggerated, with Madonna doing anything to get the “Yankovic bump.”

In real life, however, the boost happened to stars like Nirvana. “My ‘Smells Like Nirvana’ parody came out, and we got call from Nirvana’s record label saying thank you,” Yankovic recalled, adding that thanks to his song, the band’s Nevermind album sold an extra million units.

Watch the full Tonight Show interview with Yankovic below, and catch Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, starring Daniel Radcliffe, on The Roku Channel starting on Nov. 4.