# Does Weird Al belong in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-belong-in-the-rock-roll-hall-of-fame/1028142
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** music
**Created:** [March 2, 2026, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-belong-in-the-rock-roll-hall-of-fame/1028142 "2026-03-02T15:52:34Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-belong-in-the-rock-roll-hall-of-fame/1028142/61 "2026-03-02T20:38:36Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#):
>
> Bon Jovi? Nope.
Well, they did have an album titled “Slippery When Wet”. Surely that must count for something.
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### Author:  [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-belong-in-the-rock-roll-hall-of-fame/1028142/62 "2026-03-02T20:41:56Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#):
>
> In my HoF, one of the primary requirements for entry is this: Did this act, at least initially, make the listeners’ parents nervous, scare them a bit, make them uneasy.
That’s gonna be tougher to do as the generations pass. Consider a group like Wilson Phillips; is there anything that would make their parents uneasy?
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### Author:  [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-belong-in-the-rock-roll-hall-of-fame/1028142/63 "2026-03-02T20:47:36Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#):
>
> That’s gonna be tougher to do as the generations pass. Consider a group like Wilson Phillips; is there anything that would make their parents uneasy?
Probably not, and the only way they get in _my_ Hall is if they buy a ticket.😀
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### Author:  [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-belong-in-the-rock-roll-hall-of-fame/1028142/64 "2026-03-02T20:48:20Z")
They get a discount in the HoF gift shop, but that’s it.
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-belong-in-the-rock-roll-hall-of-fame/1028142/65 "2026-03-02T21:00:33Z")
There is zero discussion for me.
100% yes.
And he 100% should be the Super Bowl halftime show.
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-belong-in-the-rock-roll-hall-of-fame/1028142/66 "2026-03-02T21:04:57Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#):
>
> And he 100% should be the Super Bowl halftime show.
Not that I disagree, but I think it’s becoming even less likely now than it might have been in the past. Not because of Al’s age, but because the NFL increasingly sees itself as a league and a sport with global appeal, and sees countries outside of North America as its “growth markets.” The Super Bowl has a global audience, and they are already selecting halftime performers based on global appeal.
As much as I love Weird Al, I suspect that he’s not nearly as well-known or popular outside of North America.
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### Author:  [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-belong-in-the-rock-roll-hall-of-fame/1028142/67 "2026-03-02T21:21:46Z")
As long as Bob Dylan can get a Nobel Prize for literature, Weird Al can be inducted to the RRHOF.
And I’m quire serious here. I think that Dylan deserved the Nobel.
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### Author:  [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-belong-in-the-rock-roll-hall-of-fame/1028142/68 "2026-03-02T21:24:38Z")
The bar for admission to the HoF keeps getting lower every year, so it’s hard to argue that anyone definitively _doesn’t_ belong. Weird Al has had a long career and seems universally liked, so maybe that’s enough?
Playing devil’s advocate, though, he’s sold only about 12 million records, which is not a super impressive number in this context. One of this year’s nominees, for instance, INXS, sold 50 million. Usually if you haven’t sold a ton of records, the way to get in is to be credited as an influence on other major artists, but rock parody as a genre hasn’t really taken off.
I can see arguing that he’s a unique, beloved figure in rock history who deserves to be admitted on that basis, but by the usual standards of the Hall you can’t say he’s overwhelmingly qualified.
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### Author:  [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-belong-in-the-rock-roll-hall-of-fame/1028142/69 "2026-03-02T21:28:48Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#):
>
> “…except for Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and Dolly Parton.” 😉
The fundamental problem is that the Hall admits about ten new members every year, and there aren’t ten great new bands emerging every year, so the quality of new inductees keeps going down. The solution would be to stop doing that, but if they feel it’s necessary to have that many inductees, I guess I’d rather have them induct great artists who aren’t really rock than rock artists who aren’t really great.
They also stuck Miles Davis and John Coltrane in there early on, then apparently lost interest in jazz…
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-belong-in-the-rock-roll-hall-of-fame/1028142/70 "2026-03-02T21:57:51Z")
> [@RickJay](#):
>
> My point is that complaining about “well I don’t think this is rock and roll” is a funny complaint when most of the acts people think are “Rock and roll” technically aren’t. It has clearly never at any point been the intent of the RRHOF to restrict induction - or, for that matter, the museum’s exhibits - to guitar-driven rock music or rock and roll. Literally among the first slate of inductees were Aretha Franklin, James Brown, and the Supremes, so they were already accepting that soul, blues and Motown pop was in the realm of discussion. Frankie Valli and Four Seasons were inducted early on and they’re no more rock than Madonna is.
This I agree with (except to nitpick that the Supremes were two years later). Look at the diversity of the inductees _every single year_ from the beginning. The Supremes were inducted with The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, and the Drifters.
> [@Stratocaster](#):
>
> Did this act, at least initially, make the listeners’ parents nervous, scare them a bit, make them uneasy
The Beatles did scare some insane people at first, and so did Dylan. The others? Should Frank Sinatra be inducted? He scared a lot more parents than the Beach Boys ever did.
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### Author:  [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-belong-in-the-rock-roll-hall-of-fame/1028142/71 "2026-03-02T22:01:48Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> The Beatles did scare some insane people at first, and so did Dylan. The others? Should Frank Sinatra be inducted? He scared a lot more parents than the Beach Boys ever did.
Did he? If he did, I guess you could make the case.
And I agree re: The Beach Boys. If Brian Wilson hadn’t been a genius who created a catalog of brilliant compositions, some of the most covered tunes ever, cited as an influence (for example by Elton John), a critical darling, I’d probably keep him out. But he moved the needle otherwise hella-enough.
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-belong-in-the-rock-roll-hall-of-fame/1028142/72 "2026-03-02T22:50:24Z")
> [@RickJay](#):
>
> Technically the Beatles aren’t rock and roll.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRF6nmqcbxo)
The Beatles aren’t limited to any one category, but they are many things, among them rock and roll.
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### Author:  [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-belong-in-the-rock-roll-hall-of-fame/1028142/73 "2026-03-02T23:02:31Z")
Weird Al doesn’t take himself seriously which is totally off-brand for the R&R Hall of Fame. I’m sure he doesn’t care if he’s given that now-pointless honor and can stand proudly beside, Devo, the Pixies, and the MC5.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-belong-in-the-rock-roll-hall-of-fame/1028142/74 "2026-03-02T23:05:50Z")
Yankovic is a great performer in many different genres, including rock. As for “influence”, when other artists consider a Weird Al parody to be the sign that they’ve “made it”, that sure looks like influence to me.
But if they won’t induct him into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, maybe they could at least induct him into the Rocky Road Hall of Fame?
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### Author:  [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-belong-in-the-rock-roll-hall-of-fame/1028142/75 "2026-03-02T23:11:11Z")
I like Weird Al, I really do, but he does not belong the the Rock and Roll Hall of fame.
He wrote new lyrics to other people’s music, as a joke, some very good lyrics, but created no new music of his own. Nothing. Closer to Song Writer hall of fame, I might go for that.
And I am pretty sure that if anyone asked him he wold reply that he does not belong there either. His comedy IS entertainment, but it is not worthy of being in the Hall of Fame.
Can anyone find a comment from Al about this issue?
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-belong-in-the-rock-roll-hall-of-fame/1028142/76 "2026-03-02T23:15:07Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#):
>
> He wrote new lyrics to other people’s music, as a joke, some very good lyrics, but created no new music of his own. Nothing.
If that were true, you might have a point. But it’s not. He created plenty of his own music, as described by others already in this thread. In fact, he created music in many different styles and genres.
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### Author:  [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-belong-in-the-rock-roll-hall-of-fame/1028142/77 "2026-03-02T23:24:37Z")
As point of (pointless) reference The Globetrotters are in the Basketball Hall of Fame.
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### Author:  [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-belong-in-the-rock-roll-hall-of-fame/1028142/78 "2026-03-02T23:26:27Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#):
>
> He wrote new lyrics to other people’s music, as a joke, some very good lyrics, but created no new music of his own. Nothing.
As noted, this is factually incorrect.
Among my favorites:
_Stuck in a Closet with Vanna White_
_You Make Me_
_You Don’t Love Me Anymore_
_Christmas At Ground Zero_
_Albuquerque_ doesn’t really do it for me but a lot of fans love it.
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### Author:  [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-belong-in-the-rock-roll-hall-of-fame/1028142/79 "2026-03-02T23:33:28Z")
Don’t forget “This Is the Life”, the opening theme of the movie “Johnny Dangerously”, with the deathless lyric “I pay someone to chew my food, I’m an upwardly mobile dude…”
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### Author:  [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-belong-in-the-rock-roll-hall-of-fame/1028142/80 "2026-03-02T23:46:12Z")
I dunno how much Al himself cares about being in the RRHOF. He seems pretty content with what’s he’s accomplished, and it probably doesn’t hurt that he has a rabid and very loyal fan base. Even on YouTube, where haters are everywhere, there are very rarely people stirring up shit about Weird Al.
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#):
>
> Don’t forget “This Is the Life”,
I got a million pairs of shoes!
I dunno why but that line cracks me up.
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