100 Fun Facts About Weezer

In which city was Weezer formed in 1992?

Los Angeles was a hard sell at first: Cuomo said the new band struggled to engage club audiences, who wanted to see grunge acts instead.

Weezer's first show, in March 1992, was on the same bill as a band featuring which actor on bass?

Keanu Reeves played bass in Dogstar, and in 2025 Weezer was reported to be making a mockumentary about a rivalry between the two bands.

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

The Kitchen Tape got its name because the drums were recorded in a kitchen, where the band thought they sounded best; the rest was taped in the garage next door.

Who produced Weezer's 1994 debut, the Blue Album?

Ric Ocasek, frontman of the Cars, got the job because Cuomo heard that band's 'Just What I Needed' as the sound he wanted; he had the guitarists switch pickups for a brighter tone.

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

Electric Lady Studios, the Greenwich Village rooms built for Jimi Hendrix, suited the producer, who had asked the band to come to him in New York because his wife was expecting a baby.

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

Jason Cropper was asked to leave as the recording wrapped, and Cuomo then replayed every one of his guitar parts himself, by the producer's account in a single take.

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

Spike Jonze's whole pitch for the first was 'A blue stage, a steadicam, a pack of wild dogs', and he shot it in a single unbroken take.

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

Happy Days regular Al Molinaro returned as diner owner Al to introduce the band, and a body double made it look as if Fonzie was dancing to them.

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

Windows 95 carried the video on its installation disc without the band knowing: the label made the deal, and drummer Pat Wilson was furious before calling it one of the best things to happen to them.

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

Bandmates mocking his choir friend, a fellow singer at Santa Monica College, gave him the lyric's 'homies dissin' my girl'; he rarely wrote about tension inside the band, and made an exception.

Which comedian stood in for Rivers Cuomo in the video for Weezer's 2018 cover of 'Africa'?

Weird Al Yankovic mimed Cuomo's part in a remake of the band's own first video, the one-take clip for 'Undone – The Sweater Song'.

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

Harvard took him three attempts: he left two semesters short of a degree, went back for single semesters in 1997 and 2004, and finally graduated in 2006.

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

Songs from the Black Hole was his metaphor for mixed feelings about touring in a hit band; he shelved it as his writing darkened, and some of its songs ended up on Pinkerton and its B-sides.

Pinkerton is named after a character from which opera?

Madama Butterfly's BF Pinkerton marries and then abandons the young bride of the title; Cuomo saw the faithless American sailor as a symbol of the touring rock star in himself.

Pinkerton sold poorly in 1996 but became a touchstone for which rock genre in the 2000s?

Emo bands of the 2000s claimed the record as an influence, and the album that flopped in 1996 was certified platinum twenty years later.

Which founding member of Weezer, also leader of the Rentals, left the band after the Pinkerton tour?

Matt Sharp had started the Rentals in 1994, as Weezer's debut took off, and quit in 1998 during the hiatus, later describing a group that 'doesn't communicate'.

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

Summer Sonic's offer ended a three-year silence: rehearsals for the August show reinvigorated the band and led on to the Green Album.

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

Mikey Welsh left in August 2001 after a breakdown on tour, and soon gave up music altogether to make his name as a painter.

Before joining Weezer in 2001, Scott Shriner toured in the backing band of which artist?

Vanilla Ice was touring Hard to Swallow, his swerve into nu metal, and the former US Marine played bass in the rapper's backing band.

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.

Weezer's first top-ten hit, 'Beverly Hills', came from a 2005 album made with which producer?

Rick Rubin did more than produce it: his influence led Cuomo to take up meditation, which shaped the album's songs, and he was a guest at Cuomo's wedding the next year.

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

The Playboy Mansion supplied the video's opening cameo from Hugh Hefner, though the house stands in neighbouring Holmby Hills, not in Beverly Hills at all.

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

A Grammy for Best Short Form Music Video went to a clip that flew in the faces of 'Numa Numa', 'Chocolate Rain' and other viral hits for a four-day shoot and drew four million views in its first week.

What prompted Rivers Cuomo to write 'Pork and Beans'?

A label demand: Geffen executives told the band to record more commercial material, and the song Cuomo wrote in reply became the lead single of its 2008 album and an 11-week Modern Rock No. 1.

Under which alias has Weezer played small, unannounced club shows?

Goat Punishment first appeared in 1998 for club sets made up entirely of Nirvana and Oasis covers, and returned in 2000 so that only longtime fans would recognise the name and turn up.

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

Rainn Wilson, Dwight in The Office, offered Cuomo the word, and the band put it on a cover showing a National Geographic photograph of a leaping dog named Sidney.

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

Lost's Hugo 'Hurley' Reyes was played by Jorge Garcia, the face on the cover; guitarist Brian Bell first said the name came from the Hurley clothing company, then admitted he was mistaken.

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

Jackass 3D carried the song on its soundtrack in 2010, and the film's cast returned the favour by singing along in the video.

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

Cozumel was the turnaround for about 2,200 fans, who got more than concerts on the way: drummer Pat Wilson ran a shuffleboard contest and bassist Scott Shriner presided over vow renewals.

Which 2014 Weezer single opens with an apology to the band's fans?

Back to the Shack opens by saying sorry for chasing a new audience and promises a return to the band's 1994 sound; the producer of its debut album was back at the desk.

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

A persistent fan campaign on Twitter, started by a 14-year-old in Cleveland, was teased first: the band put out Toto's 'Rosanna' instead, then gave in and released 'Africa'.

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

Hash Pipe was a cheeky pick for the soft-rock veterans: its lyrics deal with prostitution and drugs, themes the song's own video was told to steer clear of.

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

Teal was announced and released on the same day, a spin-off from the success of 'Africa' that arrived weeks ahead of the album the band had actually been promoting.

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

Green Day and Fall Out Boy announced it with Weezer on a single day in 2019, each band releasing a new single at once; the pandemic then pushed the dates back to 2021.

Weezer's orchestral 2021 album OK Human plays on the title of a 1997 album by which band?

Radiohead's OK Computer is the target, and the swap suits the record: Weezer made it on analogue equipment with a 38-piece orchestra.

Weezer dedicated its 2021 hard-rock album to which guitarist, who had died months before its release?

Eddie Van Halen's band inspired the album's punning title, Van Weezer; the pandemic had delayed the record by a year, and he died while it was waiting for release.

Weezer's four 2022 SZNZ records each came out on what?

A solstice or equinox marks the first day of each season, so each record arrived as its season began; the cycle was inspired by Vivaldi's The Four Seasons.

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

John Cale and Lou Reed were played by Wilson and Bell respectively; the real Lou Reed had read the script and said he found it disgusting.

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

Black ice sent the bus off the road at Glen; Cuomo was left with damaged ribs and internal bleeding, while his wife and baby daughter, also aboard, escaped unhurt.

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

Connecticut is where his mother took the family to live at Yogaville, an ashram in Pomfret; when the ashram moved to Virginia in 1980, they stayed put.

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

Japanese is a language both men speak; Cuomo heard Murphy's songs in it while touring in 2009 and had the record label they shared arrange a meeting.

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

Karl Koch is often called the band's unofficial fifth member: roadie, webmaster, archivist and historian since the start, he even supplies the handclaps on 'Buddy Holly'.

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

The Library of Congress added it to the National Recording Registry after the public sent in more than 3,000 nominations, with the Blue Album among the most-nominated recordings of all.

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

Our Gang, shown on television as The Little Rascals, had a boy called Wheezer; by Cuomo's account his father picked the name because 'he's the cool one', not because of any asthma.

What was the name of Rivers Cuomo's high-school glam-metal band?

Avant Garde renamed itself Zoom and split within a year, leaving Cuomo working in a record shop, where he met Weezer's future drummer.

On which animated series did Weezer guest-star in 2020?

The Simpsons cast the band as Sailor's Delight, a cover band on a cruise ship, in 'The Hateful Eight-Year-Olds', and used the episode to premiere a song from an album not yet out.

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

Ran its fan club from the early days; after the sisters died in a 1997 car accident on the way home from a Weezer show, Jimmy Eat World wrote 'Hear You Me' in their memory.

Rivers Cuomo entered university to study classical composition; in which subject did he finally graduate in 2006?

English was the degree, awarded with honours and election to Phi Beta Kappa, more than ten years after he first enrolled.

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

Josh Freese, a Weezer fan who said he could not pass up the chance, took the drum stool so that Wilson could play guitar and leave Cuomo free to roam the stage.

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

Death to False Metal borrows a slogan coined by the metal band Manowar; Cuomo said its leftovers added up to the album that should 'logically follow Hurley'.

In 2010 a Seattle man launched an online drive to raise $10 million to pay Weezer to do what?

Break up for good was the aim, because he disliked the band's recent albums. Weezer's drummer shot back that for $20 million the band would stage a deluxe break-up.

Which film star played a die-hard Weezer defender at Christmas dinner in a 2018 Saturday Night Live sketch?

Matt Damon played the loyalist who backs every Weezer album, while Leslie Jones's purist insisted the band had made nothing worthwhile since Pinkerton.

While writing Weezer's White Album, Rivers Cuomo joined which app to meet strangers and gather song ideas?

Tinder gave him a stream of strangers to talk to, and their stories around Venice and Santa Monica fed what he called a beach album.

Weezer's 'Troublemaker' video shoot set a Guinness World Record for the largest game of which playground sport?

Dodgeball was one of five records broken at the shoot, where the band also joined the largest air-guitar ensemble and a mass custard-pie fight.

In 2022 Rivers Cuomo previewed new Weezer songs through his own band-themed spin on which hit web game?

Wordle was the model for Weezle, which Cuomo used to tease short clips of the first SZNZ record days before it came out.

Which young actor plays a teenage Rivers Cuomo in Weezer's 2019 video for its cover of 'Take On Me'?

Finn Wolfhard performs the song with his real band Calpurnia, and the video ends with his character sketching what becomes Weezer's logo.

The day before Weezer's 2019 Black Album came out, songs from it premiered inside which online video game?

Fortnite players heard three of the songs a day early, just five weeks after Weezer's previous album had come out.

Rivers Cuomo underwent painful surgery in 1995, between Weezer's first two albums, to correct what condition?

Legs of unequal length had troubled him since birth, and the lengthening operation meant weeks of painful physical therapy while he wrote.

Weezer's 'Where's My Sex?' began when someone in Rivers Cuomo's family mispronounced which everyday word?

Socks was the word: a family member hunting for a pair said it wrong, and Cuomo wrote the whole song about footwear before changing a few letters.

In Weezer's 2002 video for "Keep Fishin'", the band appears as guests on which classic TV variety series?

The Muppet Show welcomes the band as guests, but Miss Piggy holds drummer Patrick Wilson captive while the song plays.

Which rapper has a guest verse on 'Can't Stop Partying', a track from Weezer's 2009 album Raditude?

Lil Wayne raps on the album version, a party track that Cuomo co-wrote with hip-hop producer Jermaine Dupri.

Weezer's 2019 covers album includes 'No Scrubs', a hit first recorded by which R&B group?

TLC's Chilli, who sang lead on the original, praised the cover and later joined Weezer on stage at Coachella to sing it.

Weezer's cover of a lovelorn power ballad plays over the end credits of which Disney animated sequel?

Frozen II hands the song to Kristoff on screen, but the cover's video casts Kristen Bell, the voice of Anna, as Rivers Cuomo's love interest.

The leaping dog on the cover of Weezer's 2009 album Raditude first appeared in which magazine?

National Geographic ran the reader-submitted photo of a dog named Sidney in mid-leap just months before the album came out.

Readers of which magazine voted Weezer's Pinkerton the third-worst album of 1996, then among the greatest ever in 2002?

Rolling Stone readers reversed themselves within six years, ranking the once-mocked record the 16th-greatest album of all time.

Which Weezer single grew from a teenage Rivers Cuomo finding a beer in the fridge and fearing for his mother's marriage?

Say It Ain't So draws on his belief that his father's drinking ended his parents' marriage, so the bottle made him fear his stepfather would leave too.

Which laid-back 2001 Weezer single was nearly left off the Green Album until its producer fought for it?

Island in the Sun went on to chart in several countries, and Cuomo later opened encores by playing it alone on acoustic guitar from the rear of the venue.

Weezer performed a song called 'All My Friends Are Insects' on which children's TV series in 2010?

Yo Gabba Gabba! later put the insect song on one of its soundtrack albums, and Weezer reused it as a bonus track on Hurley.

Rivers Cuomo of Weezer sings the chorus of 'Magic', a 2010 top-ten hit for which rapper?

B.o.B took the song to number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, and Cuomo also turns up in the video, performing on stage at a wild party.

Which near-eight-minute song closes Weezer's Blue Album with a slow three-minute crescendo and guitar solo?

Only in Dreams owes its long instrumental ending to Cuomo's love of the jam band Phish, and the producer, who cut most of the band's long endings, left this one alone.

Which actress fronts a fictional early line-up called Weeze in Weezer's 2005 video for 'Perfect Situation'?

Elisha Cuthbert's singer is eventually replaced by Rivers Cuomo, and the Make Believe cover was even remade with her in his place.

Weezer's 2008 track 'Heart Songs' lists Rivers Cuomo's influences, ending with which 1991 album from his early twenties?

Nevermind closes a list that starts with a Gordon Lightfoot shipwreck ballad Cuomo loved when he was five years old.

Which Canadian actor plays mandolin and sings backing vocals on 'Hang On', from Weezer's 2010 album Hurley?

Michael Cera already had form with the band's catalogue: his own group, The Long Goodbye, covered 'El Scorcho'.

What kind of company won a restraining order against Weezer's album Pinkerton the day before its release?

A security firm called Pinkerton's sued over its trademark, but a judge threw the case out, ruling that blocking the disc would hurt Geffen more.

The title of Weezer's 1996 single 'El Scorcho' is said to come from a hot sauce packet at which chain?

Del Taco labelled its sauce Del Scorcho, but the borrowed name brought no luck: several radio stations refused to play the single.

The strings on Weezer's 2021 album OK Human were recorded at which famous London studio?

Abbey Road supplied the strings for an album made entirely on analogue equipment, with a 38-piece orchestra behind the band.

Each of Weezer's four SZNZ records from 2022 borrows a melody from which Baroque composer?

Vivaldi wrote The Four Seasons three centuries earlier, and Cuomo set new words to its riffs, starting with the opening song on Spring.

Weezer released the 2010 single 'Represent' as an unofficial anthem for the US team at which sporting event?

The FIFA World Cup opener against England came the day after its release, and Cuomo had already written a tribute to the team in 2006.

Weezer's Rivers Cuomo spent much of his childhood in what kind of community, where his mother moved the family in 1975?

An ashram called Yogaville became home after his father left in 1975, and before that the family had lived at a Zen centre in Rochester, New York.

The snowy village scene on the cover of Weezer's Pinkerton comes from a woodblock print by which ukiyo-e artist?

Hiroshige made the night-snow scene in the 1830s as part of his travel series 53 Stations of the Tokaido.

After leaving Geffen, Weezer released its 2010 album Hurley through which independent record company?

Epitaph released just this one Weezer record, signing the band once its long run with Geffen had ended.

Dave Sitek, who produced Weezer's 2019 Black Album, is a member of which acclaimed indie band?

TV on the Radio's Sitek produced the whole album, and one favourable review credited him with its bold production choices.

Weezer cancelled a 2022 residency at which kind of venue, blaming poor ticket sales and high costs?

A Broadway theatre was booked for that September, but the band called the run off a month ahead as its expenses mounted.

Weezer's Rivers Cuomo wrote and sang the bridge of 'Sober Up', a 2017 single by which pop group?

AJR sent him an unfinished version after the two acts traded praise, and it became his first number one on the alternative chart outside Weezer.

Rivers Cuomo met future Weezer drummer Patrick Wilson while working at which record store chain on Sunset Boulevard?

Tower Records was one of two jobs he held while writing the debut album: he was also a roadie for a band called Kingsize.

Before his music career, long-serving Weezer bassist Scott Shriner was a member of which branch of the US military?

Marine Corps service came first; after his discharge he went back to his high-school bass teacher in Toledo, Ohio, and studied until he moved west.

Shortly before releasing its hit version of 'Africa' in 2018, Weezer put out a cover of which other Toto song?

Rosanna came out as a joke, and the genuine article that followed gave Weezer its first number one on the alternative chart in ten years.

For the 2021 tribute album The Metallica Blacklist, Weezer recorded a cover of which song?

Enter Sandman drew several versions on the compilation, where every Metallica track was covered by a number of different artists.

Weezer's Blue Album song 'In the Garage' makes direct references to which band, a favourite of the young Rivers Cuomo?

Kiss posters hang on the wall in the song, next to the Dungeons & Dragons games of its daydreaming narrator.

Weezer promoted its 2009 album Raditude by selling a band-branded version of which novelty product?

A Snuggie, the popular wearable blanket, came in a Weezer edition that was sold together with the album.

Weezer released 'I Love the USA' in 2016 to mark NASA's Juno probe reaching which planet?

Jupiter was the probe's target, and the song, part of a NASA and Apple Music celebration, later joined the White Album's deluxe edition.

Weezer's B-side 'Susanne' plays at the end of which Kevin Smith comedy, as an orangutan of the same name appears?

Mallrats used a remix of the song over its closing montage, in which Jay and Silent Bob stroll off with the ape.

Rivers Cuomo wrote Weezer's 'Beverly Hills' after seeing a concert-programme photo of which pop vocal trio?

Wilson Phillips, glimpsed in a Hollywood Bowl programme, set him sincerely daydreaming about marrying an established celebrity.

Weezer's 'My Best Friend' was meant for which animated film until Counting Crows' 'Accidentally in Love' replaced it?

Shrek 2's makers dropped the song because it did not fit the timing of the visuals, and it surfaced a year later on Make Believe.

Which instrumental star, a Malibu neighbour of Rivers Cuomo, played a one-take solo at a Weezer promo session?

Kenny G admitted beforehand that he knew nothing of Weezer, then delivered his saxophone solo in a single take with no rehearsal.

Which colour names the one self-titled Weezer release on which all four band members sing a lead vocal?

Red is the one: Brian Bell sings 'Thought I Knew', Scott Shriner takes 'Cold Dark World' and drummer Patrick Wilson fronts 'Automatic'.

Weezer's early song 'Jamie', released on a 1994 Geffen rarities compilation, was written as an ode to whom?

The band's first lawyer inspired the track, which sat on the compilation among demos, B-sides and covers by other acts on the DGC roster.

Weezer recorded much of Pinkerton during Rivers Cuomo's college vacations at which Van Nuys studio?

Sound City was, in the words of a long-time band associate, a significant part of the sound of the album.

Weezer guitarist Brian Bell was born in Iowa but raised in which Tennessee city, where his father taught geography?

Knoxville is where his parents took him as a small child to an Elvis Presley concert, the show that first sparked his interest in music.

Before joining Weezer in 1993, guitarist Brian Bell played bass in which Los Angeles band?

Carnival Art was falling apart when Bell got to know Weezer's members, and he left in 1993 to swap bass for guitar.