00:00Hi, everybody. My name is Rebecca Milzaff. I'm from the Executive Magazine of Beard, Beard, and the Board.
00:08I actually wrote the story in something that was from the Old Bay's Magazine, so you should all read it.
00:15I'm guessing that in this room full of music industry innovators, more than a few of you have been called Beard at some point in your lives or careers.
00:23But I would venture that no one has proven that Beard can mean so many things—smart, savvy, creatively committed, ingenious, and truly singular—quite like our next honoree.
00:36With his meticulously crafted, hilarious parodies of pop hits, his eerily accurate, original pastiches of diverse line of sounds, and his viral before and vital with a blank music video.
00:47For both, he has gone from playing the accordion alone to becoming a presence on the Billboard Top 100 over each of the first four decades of his career,
00:57and placing eight of his albums in the top 20 of the Billboard 200, with his latest 2014 mandatory fun becoming his first to reach the number one spot.
01:07He's won five Grammy Awards and an Emmy, and he's done it all without sacrificing one ounce of that weirdness.
01:13Whether that's meant sticking to his creative and strategic instincts, even when record executives insisted he'd never be more than a novelty,
01:22or gamely answering the call when artists across age groups and genres want him to appear in their music videos or on stage with them, which is a lot.
01:30Or simply letting good intentions and a genuine interest in not making enemies of other artists guide how he goes about doing his favorite parties.
01:38It's no wonder that when I was writing this story about him, speaking to fans of his, ranging from Lin-Manuel Miranda to Clairo to Don McLean to John Mayer,
01:49I could not find one famous person who had anything less than totally glowing to say about him.
01:54And that's why his devoted fan base, which is truly cross-generational in every sense, is about to turn out in drones to see his bigger and weirder tour,
02:03which actually is the biggest tour of his entire career, and will include, at the tender age of 65, his Madison Square Garden debut.
02:12All of this is happening at a moment. For the first time, he is truly independent in all senses of the word.
02:24Seeing firsthand how the independent approach that always guided him is now giving him the freedom to, as he puts it, do whatever I want.
02:32For all those reasons, I am really happy to present the Lawrence Indy Spirit Award to the one and only We're Not Eculent.
02:40What a surprise!
02:54Oh my goodness, thank you so much for back. That's, oh my, it's wonderful. Thank you.
02:59Um, you know, ever since I was a small child, I've always dreamed of one day Rick putting the billboard Indy Spirit Award.
03:08So you see, dreams really do come true. Thank you.
03:15Um, you know, I somehow thought that I might be disqualified from winning this, having been on a major label for 32 years.
03:25But, um, apparently when you start your recording career by playing the recording next to a urinal in a public men's room,
03:34you get an Indy credit card for life. So, I'm glad to hear that.
03:39Um, in all seriousness, I'm deeply grateful to Billboard Magazine. Of course, it's the bible of the entertainment industry.
03:46I've been an enthusiastic theologian my entire life. Um, since I first fixed my eyes on the Hot 100 chart,
03:55which was dutifully taped up every week on the inside of the window of my college campus radio station,
04:01I've been obsessed with Billboard Magazine. And for decades and decades after that, I studied the charts
04:07to know exactly which songs, uh, were right for my mockery. Um, I will say that, uh, the first time that I was mentioned
04:16in Billboard Magazine, I was still a teen, it was 1979, and, uh, My Malona, my first single, had just been released.
04:26And, um, there was a small typo, uh, Billboard, instead of saying it was Weird Al, I believe you said it was Weird Owl?
04:35Close? Uh, not exactly accurate. And I'm, I'm, I'm really fine now. I, I, I, I finally forgiven Billboard
04:44now that they put me on cover this week. So, we'll finally be right there to say it. Thank you.
04:50Um, um, I'm sorry, I'm getting a phone call right now. Sorry. Um.
04:58Good job, Al. Thanks.
05:03You know, I, uh, I, I'm really sorry Henry, my, uh, accordion would be, I, I, I can't serenade you like
05:09Laurie Anderson this year. All I can say is, uh, I offer my sincere gratitude and thanks, uh, for this award
05:16and for being such an important and infigal part of my life. And if I have any hope and wish right now,
05:22um, is that, um, the TSA will allow me to put this in my carry-on bag because, uh, this is a blunt object.
05:30It, it can do some serious damage. So, we'll see. I love you guys. Thank you so much.
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