Mandatory Fun Chart Watch

[Yankovic-Gretzky]

# 14 http://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

# 1 http://www.billboard.com/charts/comedy-albums" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

# 53 http://www.billboard.com/charts/artist-100?page=5" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[minnick27]

Ugh, i hate 14! What a stupid number!

[Teh Dingo]

But this week's #14 album, Al's 14th album released in 2014 debuted at #1.

[Kevbo1987]

Number 14 is still pretty good. If this album had debuted at #14, it would have been tied with Bad Hair Day for Al's fourth-highest album debut ever.

[TMBJon]

I wonder what the record is for longest #1 on the comedy chart.

[Yankovic-Gretzky]

Weird Al Yankovic's viral parodies propel him to top of the charts
Mandatory Fun sells 104,000 copies in first week, videos garner more than 46 million views
CBC News Posted: Jul 24, 2014 9:49 AM ET Last Updated: Aug 07, 2014 10:56 AM ET

http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/weird-al-ya ... -1.2716572" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



'Weird Al' Yankovic posed for this portrait last week in Los Angeles. His new album Mandatory Fun debuted at No. 1 on the weekly U.S. Billboard 200 chart with just under 104,000 units sold. (Casey Curry/Invision/AP)

Weird Al Yankovic is laughing all the way to the top of the charts after his new album Mandatory Fun​ sells 104,000 copies in its first week, making him No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard charts and No. 3 in Canada.

That's a personal best for the Grammy-winning parodist, who's been making comedy albums for more than 30 years.

His renewed relevance was no doubt boosted by his clever "8 videos in 8 days"​ campaign which released daily Vevo and YouTube videos parodying top hits like Happy and Royals. The collection garnered huge media attention and racked up more than 46 million views online.

Viewers have clicked on Yankovic's Word Crimes video – a grammatically correct send-up of Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines – more than 10 million times alone.

Weird Al Yankovic is the biggest-selling comedy recording artist in history with over 12 million albums sold.

[Teh Dingo]

Looks like we've reached our last week in the top 20. #19 this week. (Official Billboard numbers could push him up a spot, but he looks locked in at 19 anyway)

Still, an entire month in the top 20

[jbracciante]

~ 165,000 copies sold to date in the US

[Udvarnoky]

Wait, Billboard only covers the U.S. sales? You sure about that? I would be really pleased to know that, because although the domestic market has always been Al's biggest, it means he's probably closer to a Gold album than I would have assumed. Or do those certifications only apply to stateside sales anyway? I'm rather confused.

How long did Lynwood take to get certified? Something like 6-9 months, yes?

[Way_Moby]

Wait, Billboard only covers the U.S. sales? You sure about that? I would be really pleased to know that, because although the domestic market has always been Al's biggest, it means he's probably closer to a Gold album than I would have assumed. Or do those certifications only apply to stateside sales anyway? I'm rather confused.

How long did Lynwood take to get certified? Something like 6-9 months, yes?

Yeah, the chart only covers US sales. It has international charts in the back of the printed version, but they don't factor in for the Hot 100 or the Billboard 200.

~ 165,000 copies sold to date in the US

He's a third of the way to Gold! And he's spending, what, his fourth week in the Top 20? That's pretty cool.