Key Takeaways
- New Inductions: The National Recording Registry has added 25 new titles, including iconic works by Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.
- Significant Albums: Notable debut albums like Beauty and the Beat and Texas Flood are included this year.
- Historical Context: Ray Charles becomes one of the few artists with two inductions in the Registry.
- Cultural Impact: The selections reflect a diverse range of American music and its cultural significance.
Taylor Swift’s career-transforming 1989, Beyoncé’s iconic “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It),” José Feliciano’s perennial “Feliz Navidad,” Chaka Khan’s defining recording of Prince’s “I Feel for You” and the Broadway cast album to Chicago are among 25 selections newly added to the National Recording Registry. The Library of Congress, which oversees the Registry, announced this year’s additions early Thursday (May 14).
The Librarian of Congress, with advice from the National Recording Preservation Board, selects 25 titles for the Registry each year that are “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” and are at least 10 years old. This year’s selections bring the number of titles on the honor roll to 700.
This year’s selections include three debut albums: Go-Go’s’ Beauty and the Beat, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble’s Texas Flood and Weezer’s Weezer (often called The Blue Album). Ric Ocacek, mastermind of The Cars, produced Weezer. The Cars’ own eponymous debut album (produced by Roy Thomas Baker) was inducted into the Registry two years ago.
Ray Charles becomes one of the few artists with two inductions in the Registry. His groundbreaking 1962 album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music was saluted this year. His 1959 hit “What I’d Say (Part I & II)” was one of the inaugural selections in 2002. (On Modern Sounds, a pop and R&B legend proved he was also adept at country music. On 1989, a top country star made a bold midcareer pivot to pop.)
Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies” was cited this year, eight years after Jay-Z’s album The Blueprint was inducted. The Carters are one of the few married couples with recordings in the Registry.
This year’s selections include three singles that reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100: The Byrds’ “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season),” Gladys Knight & the Pips’ “Midnight Train to Georgia” and “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).” They also include three albums that reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200: Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Beauty and the Beat and 1989.
The roster includes a Grammy-winning album of the year (1989) and another landmark album that was nominated for that award (Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music); a Grammy-winning song of the year (“Single Ladies”) and releases by three acts who were Grammy-nominated for best new artist (The Byrds, Go-Go’s and Swift).
Rosanne Cash’s The Wheel was honored 23 years after voters chose her father Johnny Cash’s 1968 album Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison. The Registry says this is the first time a father and daughter have both been selected.
Producers Tony Brown and Don Costa are each represented with two of this year’s selections. Brown produced Vince Gill’s “Go Rest High on that Mountain” and co-produced Reba McEntire’s Rumor Has It with McEntire. Costa produced Paul Anka’s “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” and arranged and conducted Kaye Ballard’s “In Other Words,” the first recording of the future standard “Fly Me to the Moon.” (Yes, that is the same Kaye Ballard who was a sitcom star and game and talk show regular in the 1960s and ’70s.)
Fun Fact: Anka’s “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100 for three weeks in 1959. It was kept out of the top spot by another smash that was inducted into the National Recording Registry in 2015, Bobby Darin’s all-timer “Mack the Knife.” Anka, 84, received a BMI Icon Award on Tuesday (May 12), less than two days before this announcement, proving that it’s a good idea to stick around for awhile.
Spike Jones and His City Slickers’ “Cocktails for Two,” a madcap 1944 rendition of the Duke Ellington classic from 1934, becomes one of the few comedy/novelty singles to make the Registry. Others include Allan Sherman’s 1963 hit “Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh! (A Letter From Camp).”
Bobby Prince’s soundtrack for the video game Doom was selected, marking the third time video game music has been honored. Koji Kondon’s theme from Super Mario Brothers and Daniel Rosenfield’s music for Minecraft were the first two video game soundtracks inducted, in 2023 and 2025, respectively.
“Your Love,” the house music classic released in 1986 by Jamie Principle and again the following year in a remix with Frankie Knuckles, was inducted. The song ranked No. 5 on Billboard’s 2025 staff list of The 100 Best Dance Songs of All Time.
Fight fans will be glad to know that “The Fight of the Century: Ali vs. Frazier,” a broadcast of the boxers’ March 8, 1971 showdown at Madison Square Garden, was honored. A broadcast about a headline-making bout from a generation earlier, the Joe Louis/Max Schmeling fight on June 22, 1938 at Yankee Stadium, was previously inducted.
“Music and recorded sound are essential, wonderful parts of our daily lives and our national heritage,” acting Librarian of Congress Robert R. Newlen said in a statement. “The National Recording Registry works to preserve our national playlist for generations to come.”
“The sweep and diversity of the National Recording Registry class of 2026 beautifully captures the scope of the American experience as we celebrate our nation’s 250th anniversary,” Robbin Ahrold, chair of the National Recording Preservation Board, said in a statement. “From icons of R&B to a holiday favorite en Español, from a legendary sports broadcast to this generation’s superstars, it is a thrilling reflection of America at its best.”
The public made more than 3,000 nominations this year. Weezer was among the most nominated selections. The public can submit nominations throughout the year on the Library’s website. Nominations for next year will be accepted until Oct. 1.
Here are the 2026 selections for the National Recording Registry. They are listed in chronological order of their release. The paragraph with the subhead LOC says: was provided by the Library of Congress. We share those with you, unedited, to give you insight into the Library’s rationale for each selection.
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Spike Jones and His City Slickers, “Cocktails for Two” (1944)
Label: Victor
Producer: Spike Jones
Best Selling Retail Records peak: No. 4
Grammys won: Pre-dates Grammys
LOC says: “‘Cocktails for Two’ was a well-established romantic standard by 1944, making it more than fair game for Spike Jones and His City Slickers to send it up with their full arsenal of cowbells, washboards, shouts, hiccups and raspberries delivered at a breakneck tempo to the languid crooning of vocalist Carl Grayson. By the time the band released the single to the public the last week of 1944, ‘Cocktails for Two’ had been in their repertoire for nearly a year and was a staple of the band’s performance sets, including national radio broadcasts. The release was held up by the American Federation of Musicians’ strike against U.S. record labels begun in 1942. By the time the band’s record label, RCA Victor, settled in November 1944, public demand for ‘Cocktails for Two’ guaranteed that it would be one of the numbers Jones and company would record at their first post-strike recording session and release post-haste. It became one of 1945’s biggest hits and a signature song for Jones and company.”
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Pérez Prado and His Orchestra, “Mambo No. 5” (1950)
Label: RCA Victor
Producer: unknown
Chart peak: didn’t chart
Grammys won: Pre-dates Grammys
LOC says: “Though now over seventy-five years old,Pérez Prado’s bouncy,lively,infectious Latin hit sounds as fresh today as it didthe day it was written.The work was created in1949 bythe Cuban-born composer,pianistand bandleader,andthe worldwide successofhis1950 recording earned himthe title ‘The Kingof Mambo.’Prado would remaina creativeand performing force throughoutthe U.S.and Latin Americawell into1980s before passing awayin1989.Too goodto remain unheard or undiscovered,’Mambo’ founda second life when,in1999,Lou Begasamplesthe song’s main structure(andretainedits title)for his phenomenally successful international hit,’Mambo No.5(A Little Bitof…).'”
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Ruth Brown “Teardrops From My Eyes” (1950)
Label: Atlantic
Producers: Ahmet Ertegun & Herb Abramson
Best Selling Retail Rhythm & Blues Records peak: No.1(11 weeks)
Grammys won: Pree-dates Grammys
LOC says:“The daughterof achoir director,Ruth Brown gotherfirsttasteoffamewhen shewon Amateur Nightatthefamous Apollo Theaterin New Yorkwhen shewasateenager.In1949,shewas signedtoAtlanticRecordsbyAhmetErtegunandnotlongafter,began torecordaseriesofaffectingtorchsongsandballads.This1950releasehowever,wasa major departureforher.Up-tempo,swingingandwithastrongbackbeat,Brown’ssonganddeliveryhasbeenheraldedasafeministturningpointinAmericanmusic.Brownhasalsosincebeenacknowledgedasavital linkintheartisticprogressionfromMaRaineyandBessieSmithtothelikesofEttaJamesandBigMamaThornton.Thesuccessof’TeardropsfromMyEyes’establishedherasAtlantic’smostconsistenthitmakerforthe nextseveralyears.”
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Kaye Ballard,”In Other Words(Fly Me To The Moon)”(1954)
Label:Decca
Arranger/conductor:Don Costa
Chart peak:didn’t chart
Grammys won:Pre-dates Grammys
LOC says:“In early1954,KayeBallardwasaseasonedperformerwellknowntoaudiencesatNewYork’sBlueAngelcabaret,butshewashardlyahouseholdname.DescribedbycolumnistDorothyKilgallenasa’gracefullygawk ycomedienne,’ herresuméeincludedastintwithSpikeJonesandHisCitySlickersasasinger,dancer,flautistandtubaplayer.In1954,shewascastintheoff-BroadwaymusicalTheGoldenApple ,a madcaptakeonthelegendofUlyssesandHelenofTroy,setinthecirca1900applecountryofWashingtonstate.BallardplayedHelenasasmall-townvamp,andherfeaturedsongwasthesultry’LazyAfternoon.’ApplewasahitandprovedtobeBallard’spopularbreakthrough.OnApril2 ,1954 ,onlythreeweeksaftertheshow’spremiere,she recorded’LazyAfternoon’asasinglesfortheDeccalabel.Fortheflipside,shechose’InOtherWords,’writtenbyBlueAngel pianistand emceeBartHoward.Overtheyears,the songhasbeenrecordedbythelikesofFrankSinatra,MabelMercer,PeggyLee ,JohnnyMathisandBobbyWomack,andhasbeenretitled’FlyMetotheMoon,’theopeninglineofthesong.Throughthe restofherlongcareer,Ballardrarelysanganythingsoopenlyromantic,butherperformanceofthisclassicsongstillstandsapartforthedepth,warmthandwonderthat shebroughttoit.”
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Paul Anka,”Put Your Head On My Shoulder”(1959)
Label:ABC-Paramount
Producer:Don Costa
Hot100peak:No .2
Grammy nominations:None
LOC says:“Thefirstgenerationofsmoothandcrooningmalevocalists,includ ingFrankSinatra ,DeanMartinandTonyBennett ,foundoneoftheirearliestandworthiest successorsinthepersonageofPaulAnka.Ankawasonly17yearsoldwhen heofferedtotheworldthissoon-to-be musicalstandardbasedononeoftheloveliestoflaments.Althoughthe song ,originallyproducedbyDonCosta ,hasanundeniabledoo-wopfeel ,ithassincebeenembracedbypopandeasy-listeningaudiences ,leavingthesong’sunderlyingromanticismalwaysintact.AfterAnka’sversion ,TheLettermen ,LeifGarrettandevenDojaCatcreatedcoversorsampleditscharmingmelody.MeanwhileAnkaadded’PutYourHeadonMyShoulderasanotherjewelinhisalready-impressive crownofserenademusicthatincluded’LonelyBoy’and’Diana.’”
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Oliver Nelson,The Blues And The Abstract Truth(1961)
Label:Impulse!
Producer:Creed Taylor
Billboard200peak:didn’tchart
Grammy nominations:None
LOC says:“Thoughonly29yearsoldatthetime,saxophonistOliverNelson(19321975)waswellestablishedasajazzcomposer ,arranger ,soloistandbandleaderwhenherecordedthisgroundbreakingsetinasingledayinFebruary1961.Hisgroupincluded pianistBillEvans,trumpeterFreddieHubbard ,drummerRoyHaynes,bassistPaulChambers ,alto saxophonistand flautistEricDolphyandbaritonesaxophonistGeorgeBarrow.Inthelinernotes,Nelsonstatedthatall sixofthealbumscompositionswereinfluencedbythechordsandstructureofGershwin’s’I GotRhythm,’whichhadbeenapointofreferenceforbebopplayersformanyyears ,aswellasforbluesplayers.Theheightenedinterestintraditionalbluesandfolkmusicinthaterainforms manyofthealbumsnumbers,suchas’Stol enMoments,’ ‘HoeDown’and’Teenie’sBlues,’butthearrangements ,ensembleworkandsoloingrepresentthebestofjazzatthetimeandremainimpactfultoday.”
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Ray Charles,The Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music(1962)
Label:ABC-Paramount
Producer:Sid Feller
Billboard200peak:No .1(14weeks)
Grammy nomination:Albumoftheyear
LOC says:“Inthe1950s,R ayCharleswastheleadingartistinwhathadrecentlybeendubbedtherhythmandbluesgenre .Thoughonlyinhis20satt thistime ,hewasalreadyawell-travelledmusicianwithabroad rangeofinterestsandtastes,andheseamlesslyincorporatedjazz,pop,swing ,bluesandgospelintoastringofhitsonAtlanticRecords.Theseincluded’I GotAWoman,’ ‘HallelujahILoveHerSo,’ ‘LonelyAvenue,’ ‘What’dISay’andmanyothers.Charleslistenedtocountryandwesternmusic sincehischildhoodinFlorida,tuningintotheGrandOleOpryeveryweekendandevenplayinginalocalcountrybandcalledtheFloridaPlayboys.AfterswitchinglabelstoABC/Paramountin1959 ,hecontinuedtorecordhitsinglesbutalsousedhisalbumstoexpandstylistically.WhenhetoldproducerSidFellerthathewantedtodoacountryalbum,Fellerassembledalibraryof250classic songsfromwhichCharlesdrewadozenrecord.To rangefromthe19thcentury’CarelessLove’toDonGibson’s’I Can’tStopLovingYou’,whichhadbeenahiton lyfouryearsearlierbutwhichwouldprove tobethebiggesthitofCharles’career,andoneofthefourhitsinglesreleasedfromthisalbum.AlthoughModernSoundsisoften describedasacrossover success,thealbumdefieseasycategorizationintoonegenreandremainsanartisticachievementwhose broadappealendures.”
