“Weird Al” Yankovic just made digital music history.
His newest song, “The Hamilton Polka,” debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Comedy Digital Track Sales chart and at No. 23 on the Digital Song Sales chart, which counts every genre.
Upon hearing the news, Yankovic asked:
Billboard said yes. The tune is the first-ever polka to crack the Digital Song Sales chart in its 14-year history.
“Polka music, a Bohemian dance genre popularized in Eastern Europe in the 19th century, rarely makes a splash on Billboard’s charts,” Billboard noted. “In fact, Yankovic is almost surely the only artist to land any polka songs on our charts in decades.”
The song had 17,000 paid downloads and 1.2 million U.S. streams, Billboard reported.
“Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, a close personal friend of Al, sent his congratulations:
Miranda has extra reason to be happy. In addition to being a hit for Yankovic, the song also boosted sales of the “Hamilton” soundtrack to an eight-month high, Billboard noted.
“The Hamilton Polka” is Yankovic’s 15th Top 10 entry on the Comedy chart, and his first No. 1 on the list since 2008′s “Whatever You Like,” a T.I. parody. He’s also cracked the Hot 100 numerous times, peaking at No. 9 with 2006′s “White & Nerdy.” And in 2014, Yankovic topped the Billboard 200, which tracks albums, with “Mandatory Fun.” It was the first comedy album to debut in the top spot.
