Over the years, most artists have been cool with Al parodying their tunes — Dave Grohl once told Jon Stewart that he felt Nirvana “had arrived” when Al parodied them — but there are a few less sporty types as well. Paul McCartney’s reason for not wanting Al to turn “Live and Let Die” into “Chicken Pot Pie” is one you’d expect from him (he’s a staunch vegetarian), and Al took that one in stride. He did the same thing when Daniel Powter balked at turning “Bad Day” into “Bad Date,” and although Powter ultimately changed his mind, it was too late. As Al told the Toronto Sun, “I had to inform him that the train had left the station.”

Ultimately, though, the artist who’s gained the most notoriety for refusing Al’s overtures is Prince, who famously turned down every single pitch that Al sent his way. And there were a lot. “I had a parody of ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ that was about The Beverly Hillbillies,” Al told People earlier this year. “And I wanted to do something funny with ‘When Doves Cry,’ and ‘Kiss.’ For ‘1999,’ I wanted to do an infomercial where you could get anything you wanted by dialing 1-800-something-1999.” Clearly, the two had different ideas of what was funny, to say the very least.

Written and recorded while Brian Wilson was under the care of Dr. Eugene Landy, a period detailed in the 2015 film Love & Mercy, the Sweet Insanity album abruptly disappeared from Warner Brothers’ 1991 release schedule when the master tapes were stolen. Among the material lost in the theft: “Let’s Stay Together,” featuring Al on accordion. Obviously, he was beyond honored to play with the Beach Boy, because who wouldn’t be?

If you’re wondering why Wilson didn’t just re-record the songs, he explained as much to the Las Vegas Review-Journal in 2015: “We thought that maybe people wouldn’t like it, so we junked it.” Yes. Brian Freakin’ Wilson and Al Also Freakin’ Yankovic collaborating on anything. Who would want something like that?

Weird Al has had a longer and more illustrious career than a good many of the artists he’s parodied, but it’s likely that none of it ever would have happened without Barry Hansen, also known as Dr. Demento. His syndicated radio show was one of the only places to hear comedy and novelty records in the ’70s, and his first submission from a 16-year old high school senior named Alfred Yankovic arrived on his desk in early 1976. The song was too weird to resist: accompanying himself on accordion (of course), the kid extolled the virtues of his family’s Plymouth Belvedere while badmouthing other family cars. “When he sang the line, ‘there’s something about a Comet that makes me want to vomit,'” Demento says, “that kind of perked up my ears.”

The tune was a big hit with Demento’s fans, but it wasn’t until Al got to college that he found his signature—wacky parodies. He kept Demento’s fans supplied with them, and they kept asking for more. Long before Al stormed the national scene with “Eat It,” he was already—and remains to this day—the most requested artist in the history of the Dr. Demento Show. He doesn’t have the most requested song, however — that would be “Fish Heads” by Barnes and Barnes, the video for which was directed by a young Bill Paxton. We think Al’s probably okay with that. After all, fish heads are yum.

Al sought permission for his parodies even in those early days, and it’s a good thing, because the practice made him some important connections. The songwriters of “I Love Rock and Roll,” whom Al approached about his ice cream-based parody, were totally down with the idea, and their manager also happened to manage Rick Derringer, whom they thought might have some interest in working with Al.

They turned out to be right. Derringer, who performed as a member of the McCoys on the oldie standard “Hang on Sloopy” and had had a solo hit with the ridiculously titled “Rock and Roll Hootchie-Koo,” hit it off with Al, and would go on to produce his first six albums. According to longtime engineer Tony Papa, Al began taking on production duties when Derringer was too drunk, high, or coked out to sufficiently do the job (although Derringer predictably disputes this.) Al took over production duties permanently beginning with 1992’s Off the Deep End, but Derringer should always have a place in our hearts for guiding the young artist through his early years … but not for attempting to popularize the phrase “hootchie-koo.” For that, he deserves a brisk slap.

One of Al’s biggest hits during his Dr. Demento days was “Another One Rides the Bus,” featuring Al and his squeezebox with a guy banging on the accordion’s case for rhythm accompaniment. That guy was Jon “Bermuda” Schwartz, and he is Al’s drummer to this day, having played on every single one of his records. Al picked up the rest of his band right around the same time, including guitarist Jim West and bassist Steve Jay, who have played with him since 1982. He’s also had the same keyboardist for 22 years, and everybody calls him “the new guy.”

These guys are the unsung heroes of both music and comedy. Whatever they’re called upon to do, they execute it perfectly, and they’re called upon to do a lot. From parodies of everything from Michael Jackson to Nirvana to Pharrell Williams, to all of Al’s original songs and insane polka medleys, there’s simply nothing they can’t handle. They’ve even been known to pull out and ace straight covers, being particularly fond of Elvis Costello’s classic “Radio, Radio.”

Fittingly, they received their most extensive face time in the video for the song that may be Al’s crowning achievement, if we were forced to name just one with a gun to our heads. That would be, by the way …

It feels like Weird Al has been wildly popular for as long as music has, and you might expect him to own a string of Top 10 hits longer than a … really, really long string. Not only is this untrue, but some of his most beloved songs have peaked at shockingly low positions on the charts. “Amish Paradise?” #53. “Smells Like Nirvana?” #35, for crying out loud. Even the recent “Word Crimes,” helped along by a viral video, only reached #39. Before 2006, “Eat It” was still his greatest chart success, peaking at #12 … and then came “White & Nerdy.”

Al finally managed a #9 hit, while stunning all of us with his ability to rap even better than the guy he was parodying. The charting world made up their delay to him in 2014, when he achieved his first number one album with Mandatory Fun—the first comedy album to reach that spot in over 40 years, with ridiculous sales of over 100,000 in its first week. This makes sense — listening to the album was mandatory, after all.

Much of the world has forgotten that Weird Al once made a movie, and this—at the risk of hyperbole—is a crime against humanity. 1989’s UHF is the story of a loser who inherits a failing local TV station and makes it over in his own zany image, and it plays like a complete distillation of Weird Al’s comic sensibility.

With appearances from Michael Richards, Victoria Jackson, Fran Drescher, Kevin McCarthy, and Gedde Watanabe, UHF combined slapstick, sketch comedy, music parody, and sheer lunacy in a way that contemporary audiences perhaps weren’t ready for. It was received terribly upon its theatrical release, sending Al into a three-year creative slump that wouldn’t end until he laid eyes on the video for “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” It’s since become a cult comedy classic, but we’re of the firm opinion that the “cult” part of that description needs to go. It’s the only Weird Al movie we’re ever likely to get, it’s freaking hilarious, and you should go watch it right now, before we make you drink from The Fire Hose.

Stories don’t get much sadder than the one about the death of Al’s parents. On April 9, 2004, Nick and Mary Yankovic — aged 86 and 81, respectively — were found dead in their home, having accidentally succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning after starting a fire in the fireplace with the flue closed. Al’s parents were well familiar to his fans, having appeared in his mockumentary, The Compleat Al, as well as in his episode of VH-1’s Behind the Music, so the news of their death was startling and saddening. No one, however, was more shocked and devastated than Weird Al himself, who learned of his parents’ passing by phone from his wife. (He was on tour at the time.)

After taking some time to deal with his grief, Al issued a formal, thoughtful, and thankful statement about his parents’ death, inspiring more than a few tears in the process.