ABC/Randy HolmesThe girl responsible for Weezer‘s viral cover of Toto‘s “Africa” has been rewarded with a gold record.

You may recall that, back before we lived in a world in which Weezer covered “Africa,” a teenage Weezer fan named Mary dreamed of a world in which Weezer did indeed do just that. In December 2017, Mary set up a Twitter account with the handle @WeezerAfrica dedicated to a single goal: tweet at Weezer and convince them to cover the 1981 Toto hit.

The campaign worked, and in May 2018, Weezer blessed the rains and premiered a cover of “Africa.” Not only did it satisfy a dedicated and very specific fan campaign, the “Africa” cover gave Weezer their first number-one hit on Billboard‘s Alternative Songs chart in 10 years, and their first entry on the Hot 100 in nine years.

In March of this year, the cover was certified gold by the RIAA for sales of half a million units. To thank Mary for her help in making the whole thing a reality, Weezer sent her a personalized gold record plaque — in the shape of Africa, of course.

“Huge thank you to @weezer for sending me a gold record in honor of the certification of the song,” Mary tweeted. “This was absolutely crazy!”

The “Africa” cover also led to Weezer releasing a covers album last January, which features renditions of songs by TLC, Black Sabbath and Michael Jackson, among others. The band’s next album, Van Weezer, is due out May 2020, which they’ll support next summer on the Hella Mega tour with Green Day and Fall Out Boy.

Copyright © 2019, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

ABC/Randy HolmesThe girl responsible for Weezer‘s viral cover of Toto‘s “Africa” has been rewarded with a gold record.

You may recall that, back before we lived in a world in which Weezer covered “Africa,” a teenage Weezer fan named Mary dreamed of a world in which Weezer did indeed do just that. In December 2017, Mary set up a Twitter account with the handle @WeezerAfrica dedicated to a single goal: tweet at Weezer and convince them to cover the 1981 Toto hit.

The campaign worked, and in May 2018, Weezer blessed the rains and premiered a cover of “Africa.” Not only did it satisfy a dedicated and very specific fan campaign, the “Africa” cover gave Weezer their first number-one hit on Billboard‘s Alternative Songs chart in 10 years, and their first entry on the Hot 100 in nine years.

In March of this year, the cover was certified gold by the RIAA for sales of half a million units. To thank Mary for her help in making the whole thing a reality, Weezer sent her a personalized gold record plaque — in the shape of Africa, of course.

“Huge thank you to @weezer for sending me a gold record in honor of the certification of the song,” Mary tweeted. “This was absolutely crazy!”

The “Africa” cover also led to Weezer releasing a covers album last January, which features renditions of songs by TLC, Black Sabbath and Michael Jackson, among others. The band’s next album, Van Weezer, is due out May 2020, which they’ll support next summer on the Hella Mega tour with Green Day and Fall Out Boy.

Copyright © 2019, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.