The degree to which Billy Joel was angry at Weird Al seems to be unconfirmed, but if ever a music artist had a reason to be annoyed with Al, it's Billy Joel. "It's Still Billy Joel to Me," a parody of "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me," is arguably Weird Al's most mean-spirited work. Lyrics describe Billy Joel's music as "lame" and sounding "like trash." Thinking that he wouldn't give permission anyway, Weird Al's people never even asked.
Eminem thwarted Weird Al's plans by approving a parody of his song "Lose Yourself" called "Couch Potato" but not giving consent for a video to be made. Weird Al's plans to release the song as a single from his then new album and to make an accompanying video had to be scrapped.
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Every Weird Al fan knows about his medleys of popular songs done in polka style. It's fitting when you consider that Weird Al is an accordion player. But the idea of a Led Zeppelin polka medley was too much for legendary ax man Jimmy Page. He said no to polkas, although he later let Weird Al sample the song "Black Dog" in another project.
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Prince could provide Weird Al with a treasure trove of material, but his Purpleness withheld his blessing. Apparently after years of asking, Weird Al just gave up.
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The Beatle refused to let Weird Al convert "Live and Let Die" into "Chicken Pot Pie." Apparently the rejection was based on McCartney's vegetarianism.
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On another occasion when Weird Al inquired about a Beatles song, McCartney referred him to Yoko Ono. Al wanted to parody the Beatles song, "Free as a Bird" as "Gee, I'm a Nerd." Reportedly offended, Ono said no.
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Coolio chose the 1996 Grammy Awards to publicly tell the world that he didn't appreciate Weird Al "desecrating" his song "Gangsta's Paradise." He also claimed he had said no to the parody request and that Weird Al had created his rendition, "Amish Paradise," anyway. Weird Al apologized and claimed it had been approved by Coolio's record company. The controversy eventually blew over and the two artists are "cool" now.
