Comedy singer 'Weird' Al Yankovic has heaped praise on Michael Jackson, insisting the late King of Pop helped turn him into a household name.

The funnyman famously parodied Jackson's "Beat It" and "Bad" in the 1980s and scored massive hits with both - and the late superstar signed off on both songs, giving Yankovic permission to poke fun at him.

Now, two weeks after the King of Pop's death, the comic has paid tribute, insisting he'd be nothing if it wasn't for Jackson.

He explains, "I don't know what kind of career I would have today if it hadn't been for Michael Jackson. In a very real sense, he jump-started my career. 'Eat It' basically changed me from an unknown into a guy that got recognized at Burger King."

Yankovic also credits Jackson for revamping his career - by refusing to let him parody another tune: "I considered parodying 'Black or White'... Michael wasn't quite so into it, because he thought 'Black or White' was more of a message song, and he didn't feel as comfortable with a parody of that one, which I completely understood. In a way, he did me a huge favor, because I was already getting pegged as the guy who did Michael Jackson parodies, and because he wasn't so into it, I decided to go with Nirvana, which wound up revitalizing my career."

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(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)