What a time to be alive. Weird Al is one of GQ‘s 2014 Men of the Year, and for good reason. Not only did he score his first-ever No. 1 album this year in Mandatory Fun, but he appears to be more culturally relevant than ever, even with a career that is spanning more than three decades.
This somehow doesn’t feel real. Sure, anyone with any common sense has always loved Weird Al, but he’s getting the respect and adoration now that my younger (and current) self could have only dreamed of as I listened to Running With Scissors on cassette for what was surely the billionth time. It was an unattainable wish, to one day find writers concocting all sorts of thinkpieces about him, to find him sitting atop the charts as everyone latches on to their favorite songs from his latest album. To have him just be truly celebrated as an artist.
Weird Al has always been around to be weird for us, and he has stepped into the zeitgeist a number of times, but this year he took it to an entirely new level. All of a sudden, it’s not only cool to like Weird Al and familiarize yourself with his entire catalog of music, but it’s really to be expected of you if you’re going to maintain any level of pop culture intelligence.
We’ve always known the weird shall inherit the earth, and now here we finally are.
