Weird Al Yankovic says he's always been on the outside 'poking fun at the people on the inside'

Click the play button above to listen to Weird Al Yankovic's full conversation with Tom Power.

Over the past five decades, Weird Al Yankovic has been parodying rock, pop and hip hop hits.

"I've always been the guy on the outside of the inner circle, kind of poking fun at the people on the inside," he told Q host Tom Power on the line from Los Angeles.

Yankovic released his first album, "Weird Al" Yankovic, in 1983 and he hasn't looked back. The music industry has undergone radical changes, but against all odds, this self-described nerd with an accordion has won over successive generations with his light-hearted spoofs, going platinum and winning five Grammys along the way.

"I quit my day job the day that I found out that one of my songs was on the Billboard Hot 100," he said. "They signed me to a record deal and this was, at the time, a 10-album deal. Nobody thought I was going to have 10 albums, let alone 14, but it was more like a Draconian thing where in some kind of crazy situation where Weird Al Yankovic would have 10 albums, it's like, 'we've got you.'"

In advance of his North American tour, Yankovic joined Power to look back on his career and how he's managed to stay relevant in the 21st century.

"Nobody wanted to sign me to a record deal back in the early '80s because I do what is ostensibly novelty music," he said. "Most people that have funny songs hit on the radio and you never hear from them again — they're a footnote in rock music history."

He also spoke about what he considers to be his first true satirical song, Smells Like Nirvana, and how he got Kurt Cobain on the phone to ask for permission to cover it (it involved a friend who worked at Saturday Night Live). The song not only rejuvenated Yankovic's career after the unsuccessful release of his film UHF, but also gave a sales bump to Nirvana.    

"I did hear from Nirvana's record label, from one of the executives and he told me that Nirvana sold an extra million albums after my parody came out, like a really noticeable bump just because, you know, my parody video was getting heavy rotation on MTV," he said.

Over 40-plus years, there's been plenty of ups and downs for Yankovic, but he said that's exactly how he prefers it.

"If you're lucky, your career will have peaks and valleys, and you can't get too full of yourself when you're at a peak or too depressed when you're in a valley," he said. "My wife and I have the saying, 'be the climate, not the weather.' Just ride along with it and don't get too caught up in yourself and just try to keep an even keel."

— Produced by ​Chris Trowbridge