Gregory Brothers Score
Billboard Hit with 'Bed Intruder Song'

by Alisa Giardinelli
9/6/2010

Michael (left) and Evan Gregory '01 in a scene from the Bed Intruder Song video.

The "Bed Intruder Song," the latest video offering from The Gregory Brothers, is generating buzz not just for its millions of YouTube views, but also for being the rare viral video song to crack the Billboard Hot 100. The track has also sold more than 91,000 copies on iTunes and last week it was at No. 39 on the iTunes singles chart.

As described most recently in the New York Times, the source material came from a local news report in Huntsville, Ala. In addition to producing a hit song, the profits of which are being split between the group and "unintentional singer" Antoine Dodson, the video has spawned numerous covers, spoofs, and even a performance by a university marching band. It has also sparked a conversation in some circles about how appropriate, or not, it is to have used a news report about a criminal act in a song at all.

The Gregory Brothers - Evan '01 and Andrew '04, with their brother Michael and Evan's wife, Sarah Fullen Gregory - digitally manipulate the voices of politicians, pundits, and others to make them appear to sing. The Auto-Tune the News creators recently won a 2010 Webby Award in the video remix/mashup category - watch their acceptance speech - and were named the People's Voice Winner.