"Fat" is a song by

"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specifi ...

. It is a parody of "

Bad Bad or BAD may refer to: Common meanings *Evil, the opposite of moral good * Erroneous, inaccurate or incorrect * Unhealthy, or counter to well-being * Antagonist, the threat or obstacle of moral good Acronyms * BAD-2, a Soviet armored troll ...

" by

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

and is Yankovic's second parody of a Jackson song, the first being "

Eat It "Eat It" is a 1984 song by American comedy music artist "Weird Al" Yankovic. It is a parody of Michael Jackson's 1983 single " Beat It", with the contents changed to be about an exasperated parent attempting to get their picky child to eat any ...

", a parody of Jackson's " Beat It". "Fat" is the first song on Yankovic's '' Even Worse'' album. The video won a

Grammy Award for Best Concept Music Video The Grammy Award for Best Concept Music Video was an award that was presented to recording artists at the 30th Grammy Awards in 1988, and the 31st Grammy Awards in 1989, for quality, concept music videos. The Grammy Awards (Grammys) is an annual ...

in 1988.

Background

Yankovic was inspired to create "Fat" while watching the "Bad" music video, when he had an epiphany that a parody of that song titled "Fat" would be a good sequel to "

" (a previous Weird Al Michael Jackson parody). While watching the "Bad" video, he imagined an obese version of himself trying to get through the turnstiles on a subway, and resolved that he would do it.

Concert version

When performing in

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety a ...

, Yankovic wears a costume that makes his body appear pudgy, along with a mask that makes his face look fat. Due to undergoing laser vision correction surgery, he no longer needs to wear glasses, though he wears glasses with non-prescription plastic lenses in order to help hold on the mask. Yankovic elected not to perform the song or his other Jackson parody, "

", during the Strings Attached Tour in the wake of the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

documentary ''

Leaving Neverland ''Leaving Neverland'' is a 2019 documentary film directed and produced by the British filmmaker Dan Reed. It focuses on two men, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who allege they were sexually abused as children by the American singer Michael Ja ...

'', in which two men claimed Jackson had sexually abused them when they were children. "I don't know if that's going to be permanent or not," Yankovic said of the decision. "But we just felt that with what's happened recently with the HBO documentaries, we didn't want anybody to feel uncomfortable."

Track listing

# "Fat" – 3:36 # "You Make Me" – 3:04

Music video

Directed by Jay Levey, the video for "Fat" parodies various elements of the "Bad" video by Jackson; Yankovic was able to get permission from Michael Jackson to use the same subway set from "Bad" for the video, which had yet to be struck in Culver City. Jackson had built an exact replica of the original set for the movie ''

Moonwalker ''Moonwalker'' is a 1988 American experimental anthology musical film starring Michael Jackson. Rather than featuring one continuous narrative, the film expresses the influence of fandom and innocence through a collection of short films about J ...

'' to be used in the segment called "Badder", and before striking it, he offered to allow Yankovic to use it. The fat suit was created by Camilla Henneman. The circumference of the suit was . The makeup was created by

Kevin Yagher Kevin Yagher (born June 23, 1962) is an American special effects technician, known for Freddy Krueger's makeup and The Crypt Keeper creature. Career His company, Kevin Yagher Productions, has created effects for '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: ...

, who later worked with Yankovic on the film '' UHF''. Latex bladders were glued to Yankovic's face, along with similar air pockets through his clothes.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

"Weird Al" Yankovic - Fat
- Official music video on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Fat (Song) 1988 singles 1988 songs American pop rock songs Cultural depictions of Michael Jackson Grammy Award for Best Concept Music Video Music videos directed by Jay Levey Scotti Brothers Records singles Songs written by Michael Jackson Songs with lyrics by "Weird Al" Yankovic "Weird Al" Yankovic songs