50 Fun Facts About Weezer

In which city was Weezer formed in 1992?

Rivers Cuomo had moved there from Connecticut in 1989 with his high-school metal band Avant Garde. Grunge-hungry LA crowds were initially unimpressed by the new band.

Weezer's very first show, on March 19, 1992, was as the opening act for a band fronted by which actor?

Reeves' band Dogstar headlined. Weezer had formed barely a month earlier, on February 15.

What was the name of the 1992 demo that got Weezer noticed by Geffen Records?

It included an early version of 'Say It Ain't So'. A&R man Todd Sullivan heard it and signed the band in June 1993.

Which former frontman of the Cars produced Weezer's debut Blue Album?

He returned for the Green Album and Everything Will Be Alright in the End, and talked Cuomo into keeping 'Buddy Holly' on the record. Van Weezer was dedicated to him after his death in 2019.

At which famous New York studio was most of the Blue Album recorded in 1993?

The studio was built for Jimi Hendrix. Sessions ran from August to September 1993, and the band had rehearsed 15 songs in the city beforehand.

Which original Weezer guitarist was fired during the Blue Album sessions and replaced by Brian Bell?

The band felt he was threatening their chemistry. Bell has been the second guitarist ever since, making him the longest-serving member after Cuomo and Wilson.

Who directed the videos for both 'Undone – The Sweater Song' and 'Buddy Holly'?

The Sweater Song video was one unbroken take with a pack of dogs let loose on the set. He later returned to shoot the animal version of 'Island in the Sun'.

The 'Buddy Holly' video splices Weezer into footage from which 1970s sitcom?

Al Molinaro reprised his role as Arnold's diner owner Al for the shoot. The video reached No. 2 on the Modern Rock chart's parent single.

The 'Buddy Holly' video reached millions of PC owners bundled with which software?

Microsoft included it as a bonus media file on the launch CD-ROM, so a generation of PC users saw the video before they ever heard the album.

What incident inspired Rivers Cuomo to write 'Buddy Holly'?

The friend was from the Santa Monica College Choir. Cuomo nearly left the song off the album, thinking it too silly.

How many times platinum is the Blue Album certified in the United States, making it Weezer's best-seller?

It peaked at only No. 16 on the Billboard 200 but kept selling for decades. Rolling Stone placed it at 294 on its 2020 list of the 500 greatest albums.

Which university did Rivers Cuomo enrol at after the Blue Album, where his songwriting turned darker?

He dropped out after Pinkerton, re-enrolled years later and finally graduated in 2006. He also had extensive surgery on his left leg while there.

What was the abandoned space-themed rock opera Cuomo originally planned as Weezer's second album?

It was conceived as a metaphor for his mixed feelings about touring in a successful band. Several of its songs surfaced later as B-sides.

Pinkerton is named after a character from which opera?

B. F. Pinkerton is the naval officer who marries and abandons Butterfly. The album was initially voted one of the worst of 1996 by Rolling Stone readers, who six years later ranked it the 16th greatest album ever.

In what year was Pinkerton finally certified platinum, two decades after its poorly-received release?

Its cult status grew steadily through the emo years, and its songs are now regulars in Weezer setlists after being ignored for most of the 2000s.

Which founding bassist left Weezer after the Pinkerton tour and went on to lead the Rentals?

Return of the Rentals came out in 1995 with Patrick Wilson on drums. His departure sent Weezer into a hiatus that lasted until 2000.

A lucrative offer to play which overseas festival prompted Weezer to reunite in April 2000?

The booking became a catalyst: the band spent April and May 2000 rehearsing and demoing new songs in Los Angeles, which led to the Green Album.

Which bassist played on the Green Album before leaving for health reasons after its tour?

He had earlier played in Cuomo's side project Homie. His last Weezer video was the Mexican-wedding version of 'Island in the Sun'.

Before joining Weezer in 2001, Scott Shriner had played bass with which unlikely artist?

He joined in 2001 and by the 2020s had been in the band longer than any other bassist, anchoring a four-piece line-up unchanged for over two decades.

Which self-funded 2002 Weezer album leaked to radio so early that Geffen issued a gag order?

Cuomo sent 8 of the 13 songs out himself. The label demanded the tapes back and an apology to every station that had played them.

'Beverly Hills' remains Weezer's highest-charting Hot 100 single. What position did it peak at in 2005?

It was the band's first Hot 100 entry of any kind since 'Undone' in 1994 and earned their first Grammy nomination, for Best Rock Song.

Where was the 'Beverly Hills' video filmed, with the property's owner making a cameo?

Hugh Hefner appears at the start. Strictly speaking the mansion is in neighbouring Holmby Hills, not Beverly Hills at all.

The video for Weezer's 2008 "Pork and Beans", packed with YouTube stars, won which award?

It took Best Music Video at the 51st Grammys. Cuomo wrote the song after Geffen executives told the band to record more commercial material.

How many weeks did 'Pork and Beans' spend at No. 1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart?

It was the band's third chart-topper there. The Red Album it came from cost around a million dollars to make, against $150,000 for the Blue Album.

Roughly what did the Blue Album cost to record, according to Patrick Wilson?

He contrasted it with the roughly $1 million spent on the Red Album fourteen years later.

Which actor suggested the title Raditude for Weezer's 2009 album?

The Office star's word made the cover, alongside a National Geographic contest-winning photo of a jumping dog named Sidney.

Weezer's 2010 album Hurley is named after a character from which TV series?

Jorge Garcia, who played Hugo 'Hurley' Reyes, is on the cover and called it one of the biggest honours of his career. It was released through the punk label Epitaph.

The video for Hurley's single 'Memories' features backing vocals from the cast of which film franchise?

The song was on the Jackass 3D soundtrack in 2010. Two months later the band released Death to False Metal, a set of re-recorded outtakes from 1993 onward.

In January 2012 Weezer headlined a four-day music cruise from Miami to which port?

The Weezer Cruise became a recurring event. The following year the Memories Tour took the band to Australia for the first time since 1996.

How many tracks were reportedly considered for Weezer's Everything Will Be Alright in the End?

The 2014 record was the band's return to their 90s sound and reunited them with the Blue Album's producer. Its closing suite deals with father figures.

Weezer's 2018 cover of Toto's 'Africa' came about because of what?

It went to No. 1 on the Alternative Songs chart, their first since 'Pork and Beans'. Toto answered by covering 'Hash Pipe' two days later.

Which Weezer song did Toto cover in reply to Weezer's 'Africa'?

The exchange came in August 2018, the week Weezer's version hit No. 1 on the alternative chart. It was a cheeky pick: the original was a Green Album single about a male hustler.

What colour is the surprise-released 2019 Weezer album made up entirely of cover versions?

It grew directly out of the success of 'Africa'. The Black Album, produced by Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio, followed six weeks later.

The Hella Mega Tour, announced in 2019, paired Weezer with which two other headliners?

The Interrupters opened. Delayed by the pandemic, the US leg finally kicked off in Arlington, Texas, in July 2021.

Weezer's 2021 album OK Human takes its title from a play on which Radiohead album?

Work on it started in 2017, and it was recorded entirely with analogue equipment. It jumped ahead of the delayed Van Weezer in the release schedule.

Van Weezer, the 2021 hard-rock album, was dedicated to which guitarist after his death in October 2020?

His band inspired the album's title along with Kiss, Black Sabbath and Metallica. It was also dedicated to producer Ric Ocasek, who had died in 2019.

Weezer's 2022 project SZNZ was a series of releases based on what?

Each instalment arrived on the corresponding equinox or solstice, starting with Spring in March 2022.

In the 2006 film Factory Girl, Patrick Wilson and Brian Bell played which two Velvet Underground members?

They also contributed a cover of 'Heroin' to the soundtrack during the break after Make Believe.

In December 2009 Rivers Cuomo was injured when the tour bus crashed in upstate New York because of what?

The crash in Glen, New York, forced the cancellation of the remaining Raditude tour dates. Josh Freese had been drumming on that tour while Wilson played guitar.

In which US state did Rivers Cuomo grow up, settling in the town of Pomfret at age five?

He was born in New York City and spent his first years in Buddhist communities around the Northeast. He returned there to demo Pinkerton over Christmas 1994.

With songwriter Scott Murphy, Rivers Cuomo has released two albums sung entirely in which language?

The duo record as Scott & Rivers. Cuomo's wife Kyoko is Japanese, and Weezer's 2000 comeback show was in Japan.

Which long-time Weezer associate compiled the Video Capture Device DVD?

Koch has been the band's archivist and webmaster since the early days. The DVD went gold in December 2004.

In 2026 the Blue Album was selected for preservation by which institution?

It joined the National Recording Registry, which picks recordings judged culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.

Weezer's name came from a nickname Cuomo's father took from which comedy short series?

The character was called 'Wheezer'. Cuomo gave Matt Sharp one year to land a record deal before he took a Berkeley scholarship.

What was the name of Rivers Cuomo's high-school metal band, which moved with him to LA in 1989?

It was later renamed Zoom; Cuomo then formed Fuzz and Sixty Wrong Sausages before Weezer came together in 1992.

Which Geffen A&R man heard The Kitchen Tape and signed Weezer in June 1993?

The demo already contained a version of 'Say It Ain't So', which became a single from the Blue Album.

The 'Sweater Song' B-side 'Mykel and Carli' honours two sisters who did what for the band?

The Allan sisters died in a 1997 car crash after a Denver show; Jimmy Eat World's 'Hear You Me' is also dedicated to them.

In which subject did Rivers Cuomo earn his Harvard bachelor's degree in the mid-2000s?

He made Phi Beta Kappa in 2006 and married Kyoko Ito that June, with Matt Sharp and Jason Cropper among the guests.

Which drummer filled in for Weezer on the 2009 Blink-182 tour while Patrick Wilson played guitar?

Wilson said Cuomo wanted to be 'more free on stage' without a guitar, so Wilson took over on guitar instead.

Weezer's 2010 compilation of re-recorded unused songs from 1993-2010 was called what?

Its lead track 'Turning Up the Radio' was made with fans on YouTube; a deluxe Pinkerton came out the same day.