I’ve been observing the internet’s love affair with “Weird Al” Yankovic from afar. The man has made an astoundingly lucrative living by making fun of pop music hits, which blows my mind. I guess there are stranger ways to pay the bills (gossip blogger, anyone?). Anyway, Al recently dropped his 14th studio album, Mandatory Fun. People are kind of going crazy over his “Word Crimes” song, which is a parody of “Blurred Lines.” The song is a must for grammar nerds, especially the part where he puts “literally” on blast.

This newest record earned Al his first #1 record of his 30-year career. Rolling Stone was at Al’s home when his agents told him the news, and he got all teary eyed about it. Al’s wife (Suzanne Krajewski) was there too, and she comforted him: “Sweetie, it’s just people loving you like they always have.” Aww. Here are some highlights:

He’s never done illegal drugs: “A couple of times I’ve had Morphine because I’ve been in extreme pain,” he says. “But I’ve never done drugs recreationally. I’ve been around people that smoked dope, pot, Mary Jane, reefer. I enjoyed being around those people in college because it was very easy to make them laugh. But it was never my thing and my parents drilled into me not to ever take drugs, so out of respect for them I never did. Maybe when I’m 75 years old I might be ready for them. We’ll see what happens.”

He owns Heavy D’s old home: “I don’t know if he remodeled it, but a lot of things here in this house are very Heavy D-sized. My wife is a wee woman, she’s not very tall, and it’s difficult for her to stand at our bathroom counter because they’re a little taller than normal. So everything in this house is a little oversized. My best friend from high school said to me, ‘Yeah, I think I saw a pr0n shot in your house.’ I think an Andy Garcia movie was shot here, too. There’s a lot of history here: rock & roll, pr0n and the Yankovics.”

His 11-year-old girl, Nina: “She’s such an ideal kid. She likes playing outside, animals and nature. I was always watching TV at her age. Where did we go right?” They camp out on their home’s deck too. “All four of us get into the tent,” says Nina, counting the dog as a member of the family. “We take out mini marshmallows and put them on sticks and roast them over a candle. It’s really fun. Sometimes an owl comes onto a tree and we look at him with binoculars.”

Al had a phone crush on his wife: “I hadn’t even seen her, but I already had a major crush. She was asking me all these questions about my life and I said, ‘You can just watch my VH1 Behind The Music tomorrow.’ I guess we did get married a little late in life, but neither one of us had been married before and neither of us intends to be married again. The Behind The Music made too much of a big deal out of the fact that I was pushing 40 and still single. I wasn’t upset about it at all. I enjoyed being single. But when I got married I found I was even happier, and when I had a kid I was even happier, still.”

He’s “mostly” a vegan: “Occasionally I cheat and eat dairy. So I probably have to give up my hardcore vegan card. It began in 1992 when a friend gave me a book called Diet for a New America, which makes a very strong argument for vegetarianism for ethical, health and socio-political reasons. After I finished the book it was hard for me to rationalize eating meat anymore, so I stopped. At first, I couldn’t imagine not eating turkey at Thanksgiving, but it became pretty easy. I didn’t miss it.”

[From Rolling Stone]

The full interview is pretty cute for Weird Al fans, so go read it if you’re into him. His wife admits she was put off by Al’s public persona until she actually met him. He’s not nearly as obnoxious as she expected. LOL. The journo does discover one truth to Al’s image: A closet that contains over 300 different Hawaiian shirts. How does he ever decide which one to wear on a given day?

Al says he won’t be going on tour again until next year because it’s “exhausting” to do six shows per week. He always puts up his crew and band in hotels but prefers to bunk up in his tour bus. What a guy, and he seems very sweet, warm, and grateful for his success. I still want to sneak up on him and chop that hair off.

Photos courtesy of WENN