The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame story in this week’s Ticket and an Associated Press feature on Weird Al Yankovic that we’ve been trying to make room for in the last couple of weeks inspired a coworker to ask an interesting question.

Could Weird Al Yankovic ever get inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame?

Those guys whose heads explode whenever a rapper or pop singer gets inducted over their favorite heavy metal or classic rock act – you know, real “rock” music – might disagree, but I don’t think it’s a far-fetched idea.

The Rock Hall clearly has a “big-tent” philosophy. Rock is a genre influenced by many different styles of music before it — blues, R&B, country, gospel, folk, etc. — and acts from those genres have been recognized as early influences or as inductees. In turn the hall has recognized artists who’ve blazed new musical trails since the start of the rock era, whether it’s Run-D.M.C. or Madonna.

Yankovic didn’t invent the parody song or the musical comedy genre. Spike Jones was making people laugh with music more than 15 years before Yankovic was born. Dr. Demento had no trouble filling his syndicated radio show before Yankovic sent his first parody songs to the DJ to play.

That said, Yankovic is the undisputed king of the parody song and has been for decades.

The Rock Hall is celebrating the importance of 1984 with its current exhibition. Along with the release of Prince’s “Purple Rain,” Bruce Springsteen”s “Born in the USA” and Madonna’s “Like a Virgin,” the debut of the MTV Video Awards and the year where Michael Jackson set a record by winning eight Grammys, 1984 also was the year that Yankovic released “Eat It,” his parody of Jackson’s “Beat It.”

The success of the song and Jackson’s permission to record the parody opened a lot of doors for Yankovic, he told the AP. It was much harder for other artists to tell him “no” when the biggest star in the world said “yes.”

Baseball fans and Cooperstown voters will make the case for their favorite athlete by saying, “He was the best player at his position for the era in which he played.”

Is there anyone who can compete with Yankovic in longevity, sales and hits when it comes to musical comedy? He’s the GOAT of guffaws.

What Yankovic would need is a champion on the Rock Hall’s nominating committee. Whenever someone who has been eligible for years finally makes an appearance on the ballot, there always are stories with unattributed sources claiming that so-and-so on the board campaigned hard for the artist’s inclusion.

Once that nomination list goes to the wider pool of voters in the music industry, those long-ignored acts can surprise — “Hey! We do like Cheap Trick” or “I don’t care what anyone says, those Hall & Oates songs were cool.”

If Yankovic ever got onto the ballot, I think he’s one of those artists a lot of voters would have a hard time ignoring. I’ll admit I wasn’t the biggest Yankovic fan early on. I didn’t think food was as inherently funny as he apparently did with “My Bologna,” “Eat It” and others, but I’ve grown to appreciate his craft and cleverness. And he was far more entertaining live than I ever expected when he played Stambaugh Auditorium years ago.

If he did get inducted, just imagine how great the ceremony would be with Yankovic performing a medley of polka versions of hits by his fellow inductees. That alone might be worth the price of admission.

Andy Gray is the entertainment editor of Ticket. Write to him at agray@tribtoday.com.