Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, The Go-Go’s, Vince Gill, Chaka Khan, Weezer… They’re some of the most successful musical artists in the world across genres—and they’ve now been enshrined in the Library of Congress.
On May 14, Acting Librarian of Congress Robert R. Newlen announced the latest round of recordings that will join the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress for 2026. The 25 acts were selected as audio treasures worthy of preservation for all time based on their cultural, historical, or aesthetic importance in the nation’s recorded sound heritage. The Library of Congress works with partners to ensure each recording will be preserved at the Library or by another entity and available for future generations.
“Music and recorded sound are essential, wonderful parts of our daily lives and our national heritage,” Newlen said. “The National Recording Registry works to preserve our national playlist for generations to come. The Library of Congress is proud to select these audio treasures and will work to preserve them with our partners in the recording industry.”
The 2026 inductees span 70 years of music and recorded sound, including The Byrds’ early psychedelic folk single, “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There is a Season),” Reba McEntire’s country album, “Rumor Has It,” Rosanne Cash’s album, “The Wheel,” Gladys Knight and the Pips’ R&B classic, “Midnight Train to Georgia,” Ray Charles’ seminal album, “Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music” and José Feliciano’s Christmas favorite, “Feliz Navidad.”
Singles from the 1940s and 1950s include Paul Anka’s “Put Your Head on My Shoulder,” Kaye Ballard’s “In Other Words (Fly Me to the Moon),” Pérez Prado’s “Mambo No. 5,” and the earliest recording, “Cocktails for Two” by Spike Jones and His City Slickers from 1944.
The public nominated 3,000 recordings to consider this year. The recordings selected for the National Recording Registry this year bring the number of titles in the Registry to 700, representing a small portion of the national library’s vast recorded sound collection of nearly 4 million items.
Weezer was among the most nominated selections. The 2026 selections mark the first recordings by Swift and Beyoncé chosen for the registry. It also marks the first time a daughter and father have both been included in the registry with the selection of Cash’s “The Wheel.” Her father Johnny Cash’s “At Folsom Prison” was selected in 2003.
Belinda Carlise from The Go-Go’s said it was an honor to have their work preserved.
“I feel extremely honored to be part of the American artists that are a part of the Library of Congress,” Carlisle told the Library. “It’ll be great 100 years from now when someone is doing their research, and they see The Go-Go’s in there. I would love that 100 years from now looking back and seeing how the personality of the band that was so important and the music was so important at that time.”
While Prince wrote the song “I Feel for You” and recorded it himself for his 1979 self-titled album, Chaka Khan and her collaborators reimagined it to create a massive crossover hit. Khan told the Library that its inclusion in the Registry is historic.
“‘I Feel for You’ was a moment where everything converged—Prince’s genius, Stevie’s harmonica, Grandmaster Melle Mel’s rap, and whatever God put in me that day,” Khan said. “For the Library of Congress to say this recording belongs in the permanent collection of American sound heritage, that means it wasn’t just a hit, it was history. And I am so very grateful to have been part of it.”
Recordings Selected for the National Recording Registry in 2026 (in chronological order)
- “Cocktails for Two” – Spike Jones and His City Slickers (1944) (single)
- “Mambo No. 5” – Pérez Prado and His Orchestra (1950) (single)
- “Teardrops from My Eyes” – Ruth Brown (1950) (single)
- “Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words)” – Kaye Ballard (1954) (single)
- “Put Your Head On My Shoulder” – Paul Anka (1959) (single)
- “The Blues and the Abstract Truth” – Oliver Nelson (1961) (album)
- “Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music” – Ray Charles (1962) (album)
- “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)” – The Byrds (1965) (single)
- “Amen, Brother” – The Winstons (1969) (single)
- “Feliz Navidad” – José Feliciano (1970) (single)
- “The Fight of the Century: Ali vs. Frazier” (March 8, 1971) (broadcast)
- “Midnight Train to Georgia” – Gladys Knight and the Pips (1973) (single)
- “Chicago” Original Cast Album (1975) (album)
- “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” – The Charlie Daniels Band (1979) (single)
- “Beauty and the Beat” – The Go-Go’s (1981) (album)
- “Texas Flood” – Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble (1983) (album)
- “I Feel For You” – Chaka Khan (1984) (single)
- “Your Love” – Jamie Principle (1986) / Jamie Principle/Frankie Knuckles (1987) (singles)
- “Rumor Has It” – Reba McEntire (1990) (album)
- “The Wheel” – Rosanne Cash (1993) (album)
- “Doom” Soundtrack – Bobby Prince, composer (1993)
- “Go Rest High On That Mountain” – Vince Gill (1994) (single)
- “Weezer (The Blue Album)” – Weezer (1994) (album)
- “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” – Beyoncé (2008) (single)
- “1989” – Taylor Swift (2014) (album)
Do you have ideas about which songs, albums, or bits of recorded ephemera sound be included in the Registry in the future? The public can submit nominations throughout the year on the Library’s website. Nominations for next year will be accepted until October 1, 2026. You can nominate recordings for the Registry here.
Want to hear this year’s inductees? You can listen to many of the recordings on your favorite streaming service. The Digital Media Association, a member of the National Recording Preservation Board, has compiled a list of some streaming services with National Recording Registry playlists here.
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