From the linked article:
As I literally have no idea who Daniel Powter is, I found this entry on the list high-larious.
Prince turning Al down repeatedly was news to me, also, and disappointing. I actually think Prince has a pretty good sense of humor about himself.
Maybe we need to look at this from the other side. Maybe Lady Gaga said no to Al not because she doesn’t want him doing a parody, but because she just plain doesn’t like the song. On the one hand it seems like kind of a bitch move to make him jump through all those hoops before saying no (based on reading the OP and nothing more) when she could have just said no right off the bat, OTOH, maybe she was thinking about saying yes, but by the time the song was written she was ‘meh’ about it also. As much as I really don’t like most of her music, it’s anything but ‘meh’.
I have friends who’ve toured with Prince and they report that he has no sense of humor at all, especially about himself.
Prince does things for Prince reasons. He said recently that he thinks the internet is over - I love his music deeply, but I don’t look to him for reason and logic. 
What apparently happened was that Yankovic contacted Coolio through intermediaries (which is routine). The message was sent back to Yankovic that Coolio had been asked and had given his permission. So Yankovic recorded and released the parody. It then came out that apparently the intermediaries had not actually asked Coolio - they had just given the permission and said it was from him.
Or maybe she was offended by the fact that, from a technical standpoint, Al’s lyrics make it a much better song. I just read the lyrics for both, and hers are filled with strained rhymes and barely scans.
“No matter black white or beige
Chola or Orient made”
Seriously, that is some mediocre songwriting. Al’s parody on the other hand scans, rhymes well and has clever internal rhymes. No contest.
The view counter is stuck at 330.
Al broke YouTube.
Honestly, I think it was probably too soon is all.
Born This Way is still getting some serious airplay, and she likely didn’t want a song with the same tune causing confusion between the two in the public mind. If Al had waited 6 months, or had picked one of the songs off her previous album to parody, I bet she would have been fine with it.
I feel like she could have mentioned this before putting Al through the rigamarole of writing and producing the song, though. It’s not like it’s a secret that he uses the same tune as the actual song.
From his post, the album wasn’t going to be released for another eight weeks. By the time Al’s parody came out, it would work perfectly, she would be off promoting her next single and Al’s parody would renew interest in her original which would be flagging.
Good answer.
Woulda been cool if he did uhm…well, her most famous song (IMHO, as it’s the only one I know) - “Bad Romance.” I think it’s a better song than “Born This Way” and we all know Al could have come up with some fine lyrics.
One of Al’s consistent challenges when doing parodies is that he has to strike while the iron is still hot – doing a parody of a song that’s a year old doesn’t work, as the material is now stale. Getting it out while it’s still very much in the public’s thoughts is a critical part of making the parody effective. Consequently, he almost never records parodies months in advance of an album release, opting instead to wait to the last minute before going into the studio to write and record parody material.
Basically, Gaga has just been a humourless idiot for saying no.
I guess I just don’t see how Weird Al has made a career of this stuff. No disrespect intended for his fans here, but beyond 8-12 year olds I can’t comprehend the appeal.
Don’t get me wrong, when I was in the age I mentioned I thought he was a laugh riot, but now I just shake my head with wonder.
It’s her song. If she doesn’t want it used I don’t see how anyone can fault her for it. For me it’s no different than artists/writers who don’t want their songs used for commercials. It’s something she created.
That link also explained why he was asking for permission, as he’s not obliged to. Apparently it’s on principle, which is fairly admirable.
One wonders if Ms. Gaga was as courteous in asking Madonna before recording the song in the first place. 
Breaking news: (or whatever)
TMZ link:Lady Gaga – I Didn’t Reject Weird Al Yankovic.
Seems like a weird bit of he said she said.
Well, that’s Coolio’s story after the fact, and his entourage is almost guaranteed to “remember” it that way.
The record producers and Al himself remember a somewhat different story.
Pretty much what I was going to say! Madonna’s given her blessing to Weird Al in the past for parodying; he should have just asked her for permission to do this song and claimed confusion later.
How sad that you seem to have forgotten what fun is. I suppose all those artists who consider it an honor to be parodied by Al are children too.
Thanks for the laugh. No longer liking Weird Al=forgetting what FUN is. Good stuff. Melodrama, we have arrived!
How sad it is that you think that everything we enjoyed when we were younger automatically translates to adulthood. Aw, now we’re both sad.