whos song came out first weird al or michael jackson
Michael Jackson’s original songs came out first; Weird Al’s parodies arrived later, after Jackson’s hits were already released.
Quick Scoop: Which song came first?
For the famous pair everyone usually means in this debate—“Beat It” vs “Eat It” —Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” (from the Thriller album) was released in the early 1980s, and then Weird Al followed with “Eat It” as a parody a bit later. Weird Al’s track “Eat It” came out in February 1984 , specifically riffing on Jackson’s already-massive hit.
Same story with “Bad” vs “Fat” : Michael Jackson released “Bad” first (1987), and Weird Al later dropped “Fat” as a parody in 1988.
In simple terms: Michael Jackson’s originals came first, Weird Al’s comedy versions showed up after the MJ songs were already cultural phenomena.
Timeline mini-breakdown
To make it crystal clear:
- Michael Jackson releases a huge hit.
- The song becomes a cultural moment.
- Weird Al gets permission and then releases his parody, usually within a few years.
Some key pairs:
- “Beat It” → “Eat It” (parody)
- “Bad” → “Fat” (parody)
In each case, Jackson’s song is the original and Yankovic’s parody is the follow‑up.
Simple comparison table
| Original artist | Original song | Parody artist | Parody song | Which came first? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Jackson | [10]Beat It | [10]Weird Al Yankovic | [10]Eat It (released Feb 1984) | [10]Beat It came first. | [10]
| Michael Jackson | [9][12]Bad (released 1987) | [9]Weird Al Yankovic | [9][10]Fat (released 1988) | [9][10]Bad came first. | [9][10]
Why people ask this
Part of the fun of this “who came first” question is that Weird Al’s videos and album covers sometimes closely mimic Michael Jackson’s aesthetics, which can make them feel like a matched pair in people’s memories. But historically, Weird Al’s whole approach is to parody existing hits, so by design his versions land after the originals.
TL;DR
Michael Jackson’s songs (like “Beat It” and “Bad”) were released first; Weird Al’s parodies (“Eat It” and “Fat”) came out later in response to those hits.
Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.
