Astronomers have officially named a main-belt asteroid for parody singer “Weird Al” Yankovic, and he is scheduled to play Fort Worth’s Dickies Arena tonight on his Bigger & Weirder 2026 Tour.
The rock is now (14331) Alyankovic, also cataloged as 1981 EC26. The International Astronomical Union published the name Sept. 7 in a bulletin from its Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature. Schelte J. Bus discovered the object March 2, 1981, at Siding Spring in Australia. It orbits the sun between Mars and Jupiter once every about 3.8 years.
The IAU citation says Alfred Matthew “Weird Al” Yankovic, born in 1959, is an American musician, songwriter and actor, and that generations of scientists have been inspired by songs including “It’s All About the Pentiums” and “White and Nerdy.” Planetary scientist Allison McGraw, a University of Arizona alumna now with the Lunar and Planetary Institute, led the naming bid with colleagues including Arizona State University astrophysicist Steve Desch, Smithsonian meteorite curator Tim McCoy and University of Arizona Spacewatch scientist Melissa Brucker. McGraw presented Yankovic a plaque Sept. 20 before a Tucson concert.
The asteroid is roughly a mile wide and is not a threat to Earth. Its orbit is well determined from more than 1,000 observations dating to 1977.
Yankovic’s Fort Worth show is Friday at 8 p.m. at Dickies Arena, with doors at 7 p.m. Opening act is Puddles Pity Party. The tour follows a 2025 run of 75 shows. VIP packages listed on his site were sold out.
No injuries or public-safety issues are tied to the naming or the concert. A current official social post from Yankovic about the asteroid was not readily available. The Minor Planet Center listing is the official record.
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