For what it’s worth, for quite a long time (particularly in the 1960s and 1970s), the Globetrotters were probably the most famous and popular professional basketball team in the world.
Parody? I call it “plagiarism!” Wikipedia calls it “interpolation,” a weasel word if I ever heard one.
Am I detecting a note of condescension 
? I’d induct all of MC5, Devo and Pixies in terms of influence (definitely not mass popularity or record sales) and almost lineally so. MC5 were very influential on the emerging 1970’s punk scene, Devo similarly for the 1980’s post-punk scene (and beyond) and the Pixies on the 1990’s alternative rock scene.
I don’t; I think that @Elmer_J.Fudd intentionally named three other very deserving groups which had gotten snubbed for the Hall for years. That said, the MC5 were actually inducted in 2024, though as “Influencers,” not on the main “Performers” ballot.
Yeah. I didn’t know the MC5 were inducted and I hate-watch the show every year.
This is true of ALL music, just to varying degree. This is what makes enforcing copyright so difficult.
OTOH, that never stopped Peter Schickele (or Anna Russell, or Gerard Hoffnung…)
I’d also like to point out that a lot of very famous artists didn’t write their own music. I know that Madonna, who is in the Hall of Fame, didn’t write a lot of her most famous songs. While Al did write a lot of original songs, he’s hardly the first artist to perform someone else’s music.
But people like Madonna popularized the songs and were often the first to record them. Weird Al is more like Vanilla Fudge; taking an established hit and putting a new spin on it.
Or Joe Cocker, most of whose best-known songs were cover versions.
While his popular persona doesn’t hint at it (he comes off as a goofball), I am guessing he is fairly serious, and insists on high standards, when working behind-the-scenes. The production values of his music and videos are much higher than they “need” to be.
Does he have any well-known songs that aren’t covers?
Skimming through his discography on Wikipedia, and singles of his which made the top 40 in the U.S., I found 3:
- “High Time We Went” (written by Cocker)
- “Up Where We Belong” (it was written for An Officer and a Gentleman; Cocker and Jennifer Warnes were apparently the first to record it)
- “When the Night Comes” (written for An Innocent Man, a Tom Selleck film)
I like Weird Al’s “Truck Drivin’ Song” and “Weasel Stomping Day” as much as the next person, but he’s primarily known for work that is derived from the creations of others rather than anything original. I’m in agreement with the many assessments in this thread regarding his talent but I don’t think he belongs in the hall of fame.
I think I only know the second one, and that’s because of the movie.
OK, back to how great Weird Al is. There are three distinct Al categories:
- Direct song parodies (Eat It, Amish Paradise)
- Originals that are style parodies (Bob, Craigs List, Dare to Be Stupid)
- Polka medleys (I don’t think these have been mentioned, but they are excellent in how they weave together different songs, different styles, into one coherent polka)
Does he have any songs that are just originals? Maybe One More Minute?
Mentioned upthread, by me. At a minimum, it’s a doo-wop style parody, and maybe an Elvis style parody.
Some I can think of which might be more original:
- “This Is the Life,” from Johnny Dangerously (though arguably a style parody of 1930s music)
- “Nature Trail to Hell”
- Maybe several from the UHF soundtrack
I would argue that songs like “Dare to be Stupid” are original. They may poke fun at a style or particular artist, but they’re still original.
They’re original, from the standpoint of being novel music and lyrics, but Yankovic himself apparently classifies them as style parodies.
It’s an original song for sure, but it’s meant to be a Devo parody. Off the top of my head, he’s done Devo, B-52s, The Doors, Bob Dylan – direct style parodies. I’m sure I’m missing a bunch.
His muse happens to be others music, but he is absolutely creating something new and different and deserves every accolade that brings and he’s been doing it for many decades.
He belongs there.