“Weird Al” Yankovic announces Mandatory World Tour coming to Bloomington

[January 24, 2015]  BLOOMINGTON - Fresh off the biggest year of his storied career, “Weird Al” Yankovic today announced his 2015 Mandatory World Tour, and the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts (BCPA) is on the list! The BCPA will present “Weird Al” on May 26, 2015 at 7:30 p.m.

Slated to visit over 100 cities throughout North America, Europe and Australia, the tour follows the release of Weird Al’s #1 album, Mandatory Fun (RCA Records). The album was released on July 15, 2014 and immediately shot to #1 on Billboard’s Top 200 Album Chart. This is the first time in over 50 years that a comedy album has topped the charts, and the first time ever that a comedy album debuted in the top position. Mandatory Fun has also been nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Comedy Album.

Tickets for The Mandatory World Tour at the BCPA are $39, $42, $57 and $62 (plus special priced VIP packages arranged through his management). Tickets will be on sale to the general public through artsblooming.org and the BCPA Ticket Office on Friday, January 30 at 10 am. For advance ticket purchase opportunities, become a BCPA Arts Partner by calling 309-434-2766. Special Fan Club and VIP pre-sales will also be held at weirdal.com starting Tuesday, January 27 at 10 am CST.

“Weird Al” Yankovic is the biggest-selling comedy recording artist in history. Now in his fourth career decade, he has won three Grammys (with 15 nominations) and countless accolades for classics like “Eat It,” “Like a Surgeon,” “Yoda,” “Smells Like Nirvana,” “Amish Paradise” and “White & Nerdy.” For the rollout of his 14th studio album, Mandatory Fun, Weird Al world-premiered eight videos in eight days, taking the Internet by storm.

The videos, including parodies of Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” (“Tacky”), Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” (“Word Crimes”), Lorde’s “Royals” (“Foil”), and Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy” (“Handy”), garnered over 46 million views in the first week. Yankovic also set the U.S. record for having the most tracks from one album on Spotify’s viral top 10 at one time, taking the first four spots. In addition, “Word Crimes” debuted in the Billboard Top 40, making Al one of only three people to have had Top 40 singles in each of the last four decades (the other two are Michael Jackson and Madonna).

The Mandatory World Tour begins on May 12 with a five-night run at Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas.

[Nora Dukowitz, City of Bloomington]