Weird Al Yankovic reveals Prince turned down parody song ideas: 'It's too bad'

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- Weird Al Yankovic has revealed that the one artist who never gave his blessing for a parody song was none other then Prince.

"It's too bad," Yankovic explained to People magazine about how the deceased, legendary musician always turned him down.

"I hadn't approached him in about 20 years because he always said no, but I had this fantasy that he'd come out with a new song, I'd have a great idea, he'd finally say yes and it would erase decades of weirdness between us. But that's obviously not going to be the case," he continued.

According to the comedic performer, he had prepared for parodies based on notable Prince songs "Let's Go Crazy," "1999," "When Doves Cry," and "Kiss."

"I had a parody of 'Let's Go Crazy' that was about The Beverly Hillbillies," Yankovic said. "And I wanted to do something funny with 'When Doves Cry' and 'Kiss.' For '1999,' I wanted to do an infomercial where you could get anything you wanted by dialing 1-800-something-1999."

Prince differs from other artists such as Lady Gaga who Yankovic explained said receiving a parody a "rite of passage," and rocker Kurt Cobain who said "you haven't really made it until there's a Weird Al spoof."

One pop star in particular, Michael Jackson was, according to Yankovic, also a big supporter of his work.

"Michael Jackson wasn't just cool about my parody of 'Beat It', but he also loved my version of 'Bad,' which was 'Fat.' He even let me use the actual 'Bad' subway set for the 'Fat' video," Yankovic explained. "He was very supportive, which was huge with opening the doors with other artists. Because if Michael Jackson signed on, you couldn't really say no."

Yankovic is currently on the road as part of his 79 city Mandatory World Tour which is set to wrap-up Sept. 24 in New York City.

Prince died suddenly in his Minnesota home in April from what the medical examiner determined was a toxic drug overdose.

Recently, the number of potential heirs to the singer's estate was cut down by a judge from 30 all the way down to 8. Among them are Prince's sister, Tyka Nelson, and three half siblings, John, Norrine and Sharon Nelson.