Legend has it that Kurt Cobain knew Nirvana had “made it” when “Weird Al” Yankovic turned “Smells Like Teen Spirit” into “Smells Like Nirvana.” The lead single from 1992’s Off the Deep End album was Yankovic’s first hit since 1988’s “Bad” (Nirvana knocked Michael Jackson off the top of the charts, but “Weird Al” connected them), but he didn’t actually interact with Cobain in person until months after the song was released.
“I met Kurt Cobain in person a few months after my parody came out. We were both eating in the same restaurant in L.A., and I noticed him at a nearby table with some friends,” Yankovic wrote during a Reddit Ask Me Anything to promote the Oscar worthy (but not Oscar eligible) Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. He continued:
“I timidly went over and thanked him profusely for letting me do ‘Smells Like Nirvana,’ and told him I was now obligated to do any favor that he wished. He turned his head and extended his hand, and said, ‘Polish my nails.’ I loved that guy.”
And we love you, “Weird Al.”
Also, watch Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, which comes to the Roku Channel on November 4.
(Via Reddit)