Parry Gripp

{{Infobox person

| name = Parry Gripp

| image = Nerf Herder Press Photo 2016 (Parry Gripp portrait crop).jpg

| caption = Gripp in 2016

| alias =

| birth_name = Parry Pillsbury Gripp

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1967|09|22}}

| birth_place = Santa Barbara, California, U.S.

| education = UC Santa Barbara

| occupation = {{hlist|Songwriter|singer|musician|composer|YouTuber}}

| title = Co-owner of Santa Barbara Orchid Estate

| spouse = Aylene Rhiger

| awards = Daytime Creative Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Song

| module = {{infobox_musical_artist|

| background = person

| embed = yes

| instruments = {{hlist|Vocals|guitar|ukulele|keyboards|piano|bass|percussion|mixer}}

| genre = {{hlist|Rock|geek rock|pop punk|pop|children's music}}

| years_active = 1994–present

| discography = Albums

| label = {{flatlist|

Oglio

}}

| current_member_of = Nerf Herder

| website = {{URL|parrygripp.com}}

| module = {{Infobox YouTube personality

| embed = yes

| channel_handle = ParryGripp

| years_active = 2006–present

| subscribers = 1.4 million

| views = 705.4 million

| gold_button = yes

| gold_year = 2023

| stats_update = April 5, 2025

}}

Parry Pillsbury Gripp (born September 22, 1967) is an American songwriter, singer and musician. He has been the lead vocalist and guitarist for the pop-punk band Nerf Herder since its formation in 1994. Gripp writes novelty songs for children, and has been featured on Disney television shows.

Early life

Parry Pillsbury Gripp{{Cite web |title=Parry-Pillsbury-Gripp |url=http://www.pillsburyfamily.info/Parry-Pillsbury-Gripp.html |access-date=December 8, 2024 |website=The Pillsbury Family}}{{cite web |title=Anne's Kids |url=https://www.pillsburyworld.com/anne-s-kids |access-date=December 8, 2024 |website=My Pillsbury Family}} was born in Santa Barbara on September 22, 1967.{{cite web|title=Family Tree Legends|url=http://www.familytreelegends.com/records/39461?c=search&first=Parry&last=Gripp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120821081357/http://www.familytreelegends.com/records/39461?c=search&first=Parry&last=Gripp|archive-date=2012-08-21|access-date=21 March 2010}}{{cite web |title=Parry P Gripp, Born 09/22/1967 in California |url=https://www.californiabirthindex.org/birth/parry_p_gripp_born_1967_9878103 |access-date=March 15, 2021 |work=California Birth Index |publisher=California Office of Health Information and Research}} His sister Alice and he are co-owners of the Santa Barbara Orchid Estate in Goleta where he grew up.{{cite news|date=July 17, 1997|title=Band With a Funny Bone, Nerf Herder Gets Last Laugh|work=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-jul-17-ca-13550-story.html}}{{Cite web|last=Verducci|first=Richard|title=Interviews: Parry Gripp (Nerf Herder)|url=https://www.punknews.org/article/48025/interviews-parry-gripp-nerf-herder-|access-date=February 16, 2022|website=Punknews.org}}{{Cite web |last=Hamashige |first=Hope |date=May 4, 2001 |title=Orchid fever |url=https://money.cnn.com/2001/05/04/home_auto/q_orchids/ |access-date=July 27, 2024 |publisher=CNN Money}} The estate was founded by Robert J. Chrisman in 1957, and was purchased in 1967 by his father Paul Gripp, who helped establish it.{{Cite web|last=Callahan|first=Brigette|date=November 13, 2015|title=SB International Orchid Show honors renowned orchid-grower Paul Gripp|url=https://sborchidshow.com/2015/11/13/sb-international-orchid-show-honors-renowned-orchid-grower-paul-gripp/|access-date=February 16, 2022|website=Santa Barbara International Orchid Show|via=}}{{Cite web|last=Stewart|first=Ethan|date=March 15, 2007|title=The Big Orchid|url=https://www.independent.com/2007/03/15/big-orchid/|access-date=February 16, 2022|website=Santa Barbara Independent}} Paul Gripp ran the estate until his retirement in 1986.{{cite web |title=Orchid questions? Ask famed master breeder Paul Gripp |website=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/2023-03-01/orchid-breeder-paul-gripp-santa-barbara-orchid-estate |access-date=March 2, 2023 |date=March 1, 2023}}

Gripp was enrolled in the College of Creative Studies at University of California, Santa Barbara.{{Cite web |title=Parry Gripp (45/50) |url=https://ccs.ucsb.edu/ccs-profiles/parry-gripp-4550 |access-date=December 8, 2024 |publisher=UCSB College of Creative Studies}}{{Cite web |last=Donelan |first=Charles |date=January 17, 2013 |title=Parry Gripp: From Nerf Herder to Meme Master {{!}} Artbound {{!}} Arts & Culture |url=https://www.pbssocal.org/shows/artbound/parry-gripp-from-nerf-herder-to-meme-master |access-date=December 8, 2024 |publisher=PBS SoCal}} In 1994, the band Nerf Herder formed with Gripp as the lead singer and guitarist.{{Cite book |last=Herder |first=Johann Gottfried von |editor-first1=Michael N. |editor-last1=Forster |date=2002-09-05 |title=Herder: Philosophical Writings |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/cbo9781139164634 |doi=10.1017/cbo9781139164634|isbn=9780521790888 }}

Style and works

= Nerf Herder songs =

Gripp's band Nerf Herder performs comedic, juvenile, and pop-culture referencing lyrics{{Cite web |title=The MC Lars Podcast: Parry Gripp on Apple Podcasts |url=https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/parry-gripp/id1435714967?i=1000434950763 |access-date=2022-10-10 |website=Apple Podcasts |language=en-US}} coming off the pop-punk movement while pioneering geek rock.{{Cite web |last=Words |first=Keidra Chaney in Uncanny Magazine Issue Two {{!}} 1860 |title=The Evolution of Nerd Rock |url=https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/evolution-nerd-rock/ |access-date=2022-10-10 |website=Uncanny Magazine |language=en-US}} Nerf Herder songs use references from various franchises to relate to real-life experiences, like how the song "Ghostbusters III" uses the third installment of the Ghostbusters franchise that was never going to happen as a metaphor for his romantic dreams ever coming true.{{Citation |title=Nerf Herder – Ghostbusters III |url=https://genius.com/Nerf-herder-ghostbusters-iii-lyrics |access-date=2022-10-10}} For instruments, these songs commonly use a typical bass-heavy punk arrangement with integrated synthesizers spread throughout the song. Gripp has collaborated with nerdcore rappers MC Lars{{Citation |title=MC Lars - Guitar Hero Hero ft. Parry Gripp & Paul Gilbert (Music Video) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7V7BaRAy0k |language=en |access-date=2022-10-10}} and MC Frontalot.{{Citation |title=MC Frontalot - Wakjakaga (Feat. Parry Gripp) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8Lrb5AVTzQ |language=en |access-date=2022-10-10}}

=False jingles and other novelty songs=

As a songwriter, Gripp creates fake jingles, as in his 2005 solo album For Those About to Shop, We Salute You – a 51-track concept album mimicking various musical styles as product commercials. It does not have one single concept; it goes through many various concept suites, such as trucks, beer, and insomnia. He also maintained a song-of-the-week website in December 2007 and a YouTube channel on August 12, 2006, in which he creates soundtracks to internet memes, as well as music videos for his own novelty songs.{{Cite web|last=Thomas|first=Owen|date=December 14, 2008|title=Parry Gripp, the Weird Al Yankovic of YouTube|url=https://www.gawker.com/5109391/parry-gripp-the-weird-al-yankovic-of-youtube|access-date=February 11, 2022|website=Gawker|publisher=BDG Media}}

=The Wawa and Hallmark connections=

Along with his false jingles, Gripp also has created some true advertising music, such as a series of Beatles-inspired tunes promoting the Wawa Food Markets' summertime Hoagiefests{{Cite web|last=Craig|first=Daniel|date=June 25, 2016|title=The top five Wawa Hoagiefest jingles|url=https://www.phillyvoice.com/top-five-wawa-hoagiefest-songs/|access-date=February 6, 2022|website=Philly Voice|publisher=WWB Holdings}}{{Cite web|last=Griffiths|first=Emma|date=June 19, 2017|title=Q&A with Parry Gripp: From Nerf Herder to YouTube sensation|url=https://www.synchtank.com/blog/qa-with-parry-gripp-from-nerf-herder-to-youtube-sensation/|access-date=February 6, 2022|website=Synchtank}} and songs for the Hallmark Cards e-characters Hoops & Yoyo.

=Television theme songs=

Gripp performs The Super Hero Squad Show, Ben 10: Omniverse, The 7D, and StoryBots Super Songs theme songs.{{Cite web|last=Lauden|first=S. W.|date=December 17, 2021|title=Parry Gripp's Top 5 Favorite Weird Al Songs|url=https://bigtakeover.com/interviews/ParryGrippsTop5FavoriteWeirdAlSongs|access-date=February 12, 2022|website=The Big Takeover}}

He joined forces with MC Lars to perform some of the vocals, including the chorus to "Guitar Hero Hero (Beating Guitar Hero Doesn't Make You Slash)", a song commenting on the notion that video games like Guitar Hero take kids away from playing in bands and actually learning their instruments.{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}}

On July 9, 2009, Gripp debuted a new song called "The Girl at the Video Game Store" for the 1000th episode of the G4 TV program Attack of the Show! The video features the show's hosts Olivia Munn as the title character and Kevin Pereira on drums.{{cite web|last=Fahey|first=Mike|date=September 10, 2009|title=The Girl At The Video Game Store|url=http://kotaku.com/5311760/the-girl-at-the-video-game-store|access-date=February 11, 2022|work=Kotaku|publisher=G/O Media}}

In April 2013, Gripp recorded the song "Backyard Hodge Podge" for the episode of the same name for the children's television show Phineas and Ferb, and he also appeared in the episode in animated form.

In October 2016, Gripp performed and wrote the theme song for the Netflix children's show StoryBots Super Songs, a spin-off for Ask the StoryBots. He also started performing and writing songs for both shows.

Gripp has written songs for Vivienne Medrano's adult animated webseries Hazbin Hotel and its spinoff Helluva Boss,{{cite tweet |user= VivziePop|author = Vivienne Medrano|number= 896046407995371520|date= August 11, 2017|title=The song @parrygripp is making for #HazbinHotel is absolutely a BLAST!! I can't express how excited I am for when everyone can hear it!! 💕🎶👍 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210316141629/https://twitter.com/VivziePop/status/896046407995371520 |archive-date=2021-03-16}} as well as the song "Monster Fighting Time" for the "Bad Luck Jack" ZooPhobia short.{{Cite web|last=Short|first=Dan|date=October 5, 2020|title=ZooPhobia: Bad Luck Jack|url=https://animatedviews.com/2020/zoophobia-bad-luck-jack/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120184811/https://animatedviews.com/2020/zoophobia-bad-luck-jack/|archive-date=January 20, 2021|access-date=March 27, 2021|website=Animated Views}}

= Children's music =

Gripp writes songs for children, with over 232 appearing on his YouTube channel, with over 523 million views. He has released five albums for children; Do You Like Waffles?, Fuzzy Fuzzy Cute Cute, Vol. 1, Mega-Party, Jingle Burgers, and For Kids About to Rock.

Between 2014 and late 2019, Gripp's "Raining Tacos" went viral online due to its popularity within Roblox's player base.{{Cite web |last=Gallizzi |first=Ben |date=December 9, 2021 |title=The songs that have caused the most carbon emissions |url=https://www.uswitch.com/gas-electricity/the-songs-that-have-caused-the-most-carbon-emissions/ |access-date=May 5, 2022 |website=Uswitch.com |language=en |quote=First becoming popular due to inclusion in ROBLOX, an online platform game, 'Raining Tacos' by Parry Gripp is next, coming in fourth, with 44 tons of CO2 emissions generated and almost two thousand trees needed to counteract the CO2 impact.}}{{Cite web |last=Rodríguez |first=David |date=September 30, 2021 |title=Códigos musicales para escuchar tus propias canciones en Roblox: qué son y cómo se usan |url=https://www.hobbyconsolas.com/guias-trucos/codigos-musicales-escuchar-propias-canciones-roblox-son-como-usan-940521 |access-date=May 5, 2022 |website=hobbyconsolas |language=es}} It was also used by the city of West Palm Beach to deter homeless people from congregating in some areas, along with the song "Baby Shark". Gripp requested they remove his title from their playlist and made donations to local homeless shelters.{{cite web|last=Palminteri|first=John|date=July 24, 2019|title=Santa Barbara musician helps homeless after dispute with Florida city|url=https://www.keyt.com/news/santa-barbara-musician-helps-homeless-after-dispute-with-florida-city/1099505901|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190903155730/https://keyt.com/news/santa-barbara-musician-helps-homeless-after-dispute-with-florida-city/1099505901|archive-date=September 3, 2019|access-date=September 3, 2019|website=KEYT-TV|publisher=NPG of California}} "It's Raining Tacos" was featured in an Amazon.com ad which began airing in early May 2017.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.ispot.tv/ad/Avu6/amazon-echo-owie |title=Amazon Echo TV Spot, 'Owie' |language=en |access-date=2024-10-30 |via=www.ispot.tv}}

Recurring themes

The William Shatner character Captain Kirk from the Star Trek franchise holds a special significance in Gripp's songs with Nerf Herder. For example, he dresses like Kirk in the video for the song "Mr. Spock", in which the lyrics of the second verse suggest Captain Kirk is extremely heroic, but girls only want to go out with Mr. Spock.{{Citation |title=Nerf Herder - Mr Spock (Official Video) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHt2jVh26tY |language=en |access-date=2022-10-10}} In the song "At the Con" he mentions cosplaying as Kirk at comic book conventions with the lyric "All week I've been slaving like a jerk, now I'm gonna dress like Captain Kirk, beam me up tonight!".{{Cite web |title=Musixmatch |url=https://www.musixmatch.com/ |access-date=2022-10-10 |website=www.musixmatch.com}} Over the course of Nerf Herder's discography, Gripp has also sung about his childhood crush Vivian in the songs "Born Weird" and "Vivian".{{Cite web |last=SongMeanings |title=Nerf Herder - Vivian Lyrics |url=https://songmeanings.com/songs/view/144168/ |access-date=2022-10-10 |website=SongMeanings |language=en}}{{Citation |title=Nerf Herder (Ft. "Weird Al" Yankovic) – Born Weird |url=https://genius.com/Nerf-herder-born-weird-lyrics |access-date=2022-10-10}} Another Nerf Herder trope is songs about interest in girls with specific taste in music narrowed down to a genre or band in tracks such as "The Girl Who Listened to Rush", "Pantera Fans in Love" and "New Wave Girl".

In his solo releases, Gripp's songs are commonly about animals and food,{{Cite web |title=Parry Gripp |url=https://open.spotify.com/artist/56P8qdYp640M24wkk9eTfc |access-date=2022-10-10 |website=Spotify |language=en}} though some food and animals in a series of songs collected in Gripp's Spotify playlists such as "The Raining Tacos Saga" (featuring songs "Raining Tacos", "TacoBot 3000", and "Quesadilla Explosion", all songs about Mexican food){{Citation |title=Raining Tacos Saga (Parts 1-6 of 9) - Parry Gripp & Ryan A Boone"bum" |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WGcedZBQwU |language=en |access-date=2022-10-10}} and "Scary Parry Gripp Halloween Playlist" (featuring songs like "Zombies Want Your Candy", "Haunted Cupcake" and "Frankenturtle", all songs that relate a spooky Halloween element to animals or food).{{Cite web |title=Scary Parry Gripp Halloween Playlist |url=https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6uFESbCqoufxxNq62R2da6 |access-date=2022-10-10 |website=Spotify |language=en}}

Awards and nominations

class="wikitable"
style="background:#b0c4de; text-align:center;" ! Year !! Category !! Work !! Result
rowspan=2\|2015	Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Original Song - Main Title and Promo	"7D Main Title Song"	{{nom}}{{cite web\|title = Parry Gripp - Awards - IMDb\|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1141472/awards\|website=imdb.com\|access-date=September 3, 2019}}
\| Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Original Song	"Jollywood Spa Song"	{{nom}}
2017	Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Original Song	"I'm Not Very Nice"	{{won}}{{cite web\|title=Parry Gripp Wins Daytime Emmy\|url=https://www.independent.com/2017/05/24/parry-gripp-wins-daytime-emmy/\|website=Santa Barbara Independent\|date=24 May 2017 \|access-date=September 3, 2019}}