“Weird Al” Yankovic Meddles with Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Ed Sheeran, and More on “Polkamania!” Medley and Video

When “Weird Al” Yankovic released his fourteenth album Mandatory Fun in 2014, he said it would be his last. The decades since its release proved that Yankovic is a man of his word. Though Mandatory Fun was Yankovic’s final full-length release, he continued releasing plenty of new singles in the decade since its release.

In honor of the tenth anniversary of Mandatory Fun, which became the first comedy album in history to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, Yankovic amused himself some more with a new polka medley for the ages—well, the decade since 2014—with “Polkamania!”

Leaning on his polka roots, “Polkamania!” is a medley featuring a handful of the biggest hits released since Mandatory Fun, including Taylor Swift‘s “Shake it Off” (2014); Adele‘s “Hello” (2015); Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito” (2017); Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” (2018); Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy” (2019); Miley Cyrus’ 2023 hit “Flowers,” and more.

“So many big hits in the last decade have been desperately crying out for the polka treatment,” said Yankovic in a statement, “so I figured the 10-year anniversary of ‘Mandatory Fun’ was the perfect excuse to do just that.” All featured artists approved the use of their songs in the Yankovic medley.

So you’re a tough guy / Like it really rough guy / Just can’t get enough guy / Chest always so puffed guy opens Yankovic, incorporating Eilish’s 2019 hit into his polka pastiche with more parodied snippets from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Encanto hit “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” Olivia Rodrigo‘s “Vampire,” Ed Sheeran‘s “Shape of You,” Ariana Grande‘s “Thank U, Next,” Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk,” and more, all paired with animated visuals.

The animated music video features some of Yankovic’s favorite animators and filmmakers, including some who have previously worked with him—Jarrett Heather (“Word Crimes”), Augenblick Studios (“Another Tattoo,” “Your Horoscope for Today,” Amish sequence in WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story), Bill Plympton (“Don’t Download This Song,” “TMZ”), Liam Lynch (“Craigslist,” “First World Problems”), Ghostbot (“Party in the CIA”)—and new collaborators, British animator Cyriak and Vivienne Medrano, creator of the animated A24 comedy series Hazbin Hotel.

The “Polkamania!” video was crafted as an “anijam,” combining a collection of animated shorts, featuring Yankovic, some of the featured artists (Swift, Eilish), a brown cow playing an accordion, drum, and trumpet in outer space, along with some easter egg throwbacks with an animated “Eat It” (Michael Jackson‘s “Beat It”), “Like a Surgeon” (Madonna‘s 1984 hit “Like a Virgin”), his 1986 mélange of Devo songs, “Dare to Be Stupid,” and an animated assemblage of past parody “characters.”

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The video ends on Swift’s 2014 hit “Shake It Off,” with an animated Swift shrugging off Yankovic’s affections. There’s even an animated cameo of Swift’s boyfriend Travis Kelce, who also joins Yankovic, Swift, and Eilish in the outro.

Though Mandatory Fun was the final full-length album from Yankovic has remained busy in the years that followed, touring in 2018, and 2019, and with his Unfortunate Return of the Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour, 2022-2023.

In 2022, Yankovic showcased his life story on the big screen in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, with Daniel Radcliffe in the starring role. The film, co-written and co-produced by Yankovic, won a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Television Movie and was nominated for Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. Radcliffe also picked up an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.

Photo: Sam Jones