Fat (song)

{{Infobox song

| name = Fat

| cover = weirdalfat.jpg

| alt =

| border = yes

| type = single

| artist = "Weird Al" Yankovic

| album = Even Worse

| B-side = You Make Me

| released = {{Start date|1988|04|12}}

| recorded = February 18, 1988

| studio =

| genre =

| length = 3:36

| label = Scotti Brothers

| composer = Michael Jackson

| lyricist = "Weird Al" Yankovic

| producer = Rick Derringer

| prev_title = Christmas at Ground Zero

| prev_year = 1986

| next_title = Lasagna

| next_year = 1988

| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|t2mU6USTBRE|"Fat"}}}}

}}

"Fat" is a song by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It is a parody of "Bad" by Michael Jackson and is Yankovic's second parody of a Jackson song, the first being "Eat It", 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 in 1988.{{cite web|url=http://www.grammy.com/GRAMMY_Awards/Winners/Results.aspx?title=&winner=yankovic&year=0&genreID=0&hp=1 |title=GRAMMY Winners Search |publisher=grammy.com |access-date=2008-01-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081224050204/http://www.grammy.com/GRAMMY_Awards/Winners/Results.aspx?title=&winner=yankovic&year=0&genreID=0&hp=1 |archive-date=2008-12-24 }}

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 "Eat It" (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.{{cite web|url=http://www.vulture.com/2014/07/history-behind-12-great-weird-al-videos.html|title=The History Behind 12 Great Weird Al Videos|date=15 July 2014}}

Concert version

When performing in concert, 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.weirdal.com/aaarchive.htm#0100 |title=Ask Al, January 2000 |publisher=weirdal.com |access-date=2010-04-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100624113954/http://www.weirdal.com/aaarchive.htm |archive-date=2010-06-24 }}

Yankovic elected not to perform the song or his other Jackson parody, "Eat It", during the Strings Attached Tour in the wake of the HBO documentary Leaving Neverland, 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."{{cite magazine|last=Graff|first=Gary|date=2019-06-27|title='Weird Al' Yankovic Explains His Decision to Drop Michael Jackson Parodies From Set List|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/8517896/weird-al-yankovic-michael-jackson-parodies|magazine=Billboard|access-date=2019-06-29}}. He has since returned to performing the song live.

Music video

Directed by Jay Levey,{{Cite news |last=Willman |first=Chris |date=July 31, 1988 |title=New Videos Offer Variations on a Silly Dream |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-new-videos-offer-v/170346554/ |access-date=14 April 2025 |work=Los Angeles Times |pages=59 |via=Newspapers.com}} 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.{{cite web | url = https://www.vulture.com/2014/07/history-behind-12-great-weird-al-videos.html | title = The History Behind 12 Great Weird Al Videos | first= Alex | last = Suskind | date = July 15, 2014 | access-date = July 24, 2019 | work = Vulture }} Jackson had built an exact replica of the original set for the movie Moonwalker to be used in the segment called "Badder", and before striking it, he offered to allow Yankovic to use it.{{cite news |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/michael-jackson-remembered-weird-al-yankovic-on-imitation-as-flattery-20090709 |title=Michael Jackson Remembered: "Weird Al" Yankovic on Imitation as Flattery |date=2011-06-09 |access-date=2009-07-10 |first=Weird Al |last=Yankovic |magazine=Rolling Stone }}

The fat suit was created by Camilla Henneman. The circumference of the suit was {{convert|111|in}}. The makeup was created by Kevin Yagher, 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.

Personnel

According to the liner notes of The Essential "Weird Al" Yankovic:{{Cite AV media notes |last=Yankovic |first="Weird Al" |title=The Essential "Weird Al" Yankovic |date=2009-10-29 |others= |language=English |type=booklet}}

"Weird Al" Yankovic – lead and background vocals
Jim West – guitars
Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz – drums, tambourine, maracas
Kim Bullard – synthesizer

Chart performance

=Weekly charts=

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" \|+Weekly chart performance for "Fat" !Chart (1988) !Peak position
{{single chart\|Australia\|12\|artist=%22Weird Al%22 Yankovic\|song=Fat\|rowheader=true\|access-date=October 28, 2022}}
scope="row"\| Canada RPM Top Singles \| 80
{{single chart\|New Zealand\|3\|artist=%22Weird Al%22 Yankovic\|song=Fat\|rowheader=true\|access-date=October 28, 2022}}
{{single chart\|UK\|80\|date=19880724\|rowheader=true\|access-date=October 28, 2022}}
scope="row"\| US Billboard Hot 100 \| 99
scope="row"\| US Cashbox Top 100 \| 89

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+Weekly chart performance for "Fat"

!Chart (1988)

!Peak
position

{{single chart|Australia|12|artist=%22Weird Al%22 Yankovic|song=Fat|rowheader=true|access-date=October 28, 2022}}

scope="row"| Canada RPM Top Singles

| 80

{{single chart|New Zealand|3|artist=%22Weird Al%22 Yankovic|song=Fat|rowheader=true|access-date=October 28, 2022}}

{{single chart|UK|80|date=19880724|rowheader=true|access-date=October 28, 2022}}

scope="row"| US Billboard Hot 100

| 99

scope="row"| US Cashbox Top 100

| 89

=Year-end charts=

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" \|+Year-end chart performance for "Fat" !scope="col"\|Chart (1988) !scope="col"\|Position
scope="row"\|New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ){{cite web\|url=https://aotearoamusiccharts.co.nz/archive/annual-singles/1988-12-31 \|title=Top Selling Singles of 1988 \|work=The Official New Zealand Music Chart \|access-date=2023-01-08}} \|49

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+Year-end chart performance for "Fat"

!scope="col"|Chart (1988)

!scope="col"|Position

scope="row"|New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ){{cite web|url=https://aotearoamusiccharts.co.nz/archive/annual-singles/1988-12-31 |title=Top Selling Singles of 1988 |work=The Official New Zealand Music Chart |access-date=2023-01-08}}

|49