and cultivates a relationship with the artist. Plus he gets half the earnings and that helps me make money." Reviews "Headline News" received mostly positive reviews from music critics. Lou Carlozo of the Chicago Tribune wrote that the song "provided savage laughs at the expense of Tonya Harding and John Bobbitt." Roch Parisien of AllMusic cited the song as one of the three stand-outs from Yankovic's second greatest hits volume, and called it a "rib-tickler". Tina Maps of The Milwaukee Journal wrote a positive review and felt that the musical parody was a "dead-on skewering of the Crash Test Dummies' 'Mmm, Mmm, Mmm, Mmm". Not all reviews, however, were so positive; an article that appeared in The Commercial Appeal noted that while the video for "Headline News" had some "cute bits and unusual cameos", it was "not as clever as many of Yankovic's past efforts" and that "the current events included here are already dated". Live performances Yankovic first started performing "Headline News" in August 1994, almost a month before it was officially released. In addition, Yankovic has performed the song with the Crash Test Dummies twice: once on Canada's MuchMusic channel and another time at the House of Blues in Los Angeles. Reportedly, during one of the performances, Ellen Reid, backing vocalist and keyboardist for the Crash Test Dummies, went out and purchased kazoos. The band then hid the instruments until the end of the song, when they took them out and played them; this "came as a big surprise to" Yankovic. Yankovic's Straight Outta Lynwood concert tour contained new lyrics as part of a parody medley, referencing Britney Spears, dealing with her 2007 head-shaving shock and underpants-less limousine trip in late 2006. Later in the tour, he changed it to reference Paris Hilton's DUI and imprisonment, and her subsequent interview on Larry King Live. Track listing CD single "Headline News" – 3:46 "Christmas at Ground Zero (Alternate Mix)" – 3:07 Charts Personnel "Weird Al" Yankovic – Lead and backing vocals, accordion, production, arrangement Jim West – guitar Steve Jay – bass guitar Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz – drums Kim Bullard – keyboards Lisa Popeil - backing vocals Mike Kieffer – manualism Tony Papa – engineering See also List of singles by "Weird Al" Yankovic List of songs by "Weird Al" Yankovic References External links "Weird Al" Yankovic songs 1994 singles Music videos directed by "Weird Al" Yankovic Songs based