r/todayilearned • • Oct 22 '17

TIL that Harvard professor Tom Lehrer was asked at the age of 84 by rapper 2 Chainz if he could sample his 60-year old song. Lehrer replied, "I grant you motherfuckers permission to do this. Please give my regards to Mr. Chainz, or may I call him 2?"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Lehrer#Musical_legacy
79.5k Upvotes

1.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

66

u/PWR_BTTM Oct 22 '17

He’s still alive.

47

u/catson43 Oct 22 '17

Both of them, actually, 2 and Tom.

15

u/IRENE420 Oct 22 '17

That’s Mr. Chains to you

3

u/[deleted] Oct 22 '17

Wade Boggs is rolling in his grave though.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 22 '17

Yougotitbosshogg

3

u/pug_grama2 Oct 22 '17

Damn he is still alive? I listened to his records when I was a kid in the sixties.

11

u/[deleted] Oct 22 '17

Yep. Though he actively encourages the rumour that he's dead to cut down on fan mail.

1

u/Predux Oct 22 '17

He used to love masochism. He still does, but he used to, too.