Frankie Yankovic

America's undisputed Polka King, Frankie Yankovic did more to popularize polka music than any other single performer, and remains the yardstick by which all other polka artists are measured. Yankovic was the first polka artist to score a million-selling single (1948's "Just Because"), the first to perform on television, and the first to win a Grammy for Best Polka Album when the category was created in 1985. Singing mostly in English, Yankovic modernized the folk-dance music of Central and Eastern Europe for American audiences, giving it an appeal that extended beyond the immigrant communities who kept it alive. His brand of polka had a bouncier beat than the traditional, brass-heavy "oom-pah" style, partly because he favored lighter, leaner arrangements that often included banjo, electric organ, and two accordions. Where most accordion players remained seated on-stage, burdened by a heavy and somewhat cumbersome instrument, the energetic Yankovic played for hours on end standing up and bouncing along to the music. His cheerful stage presence was a perfect match for the genial informality and liveliness of polka music, and audiences connected readily with him. Yankovic's best-known songs are standards of the genre, and his name is still more associated with polka than any other musician. And no, he isn't related to Weird Al.

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