Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2026: Oasis, Iron Maiden, Wu-Tang Clan, and More!
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has announced its 2026 inductees, featuring a diverse range of artists from Oasis and Iron Maiden to Wu-Tang Clan.
The 2026 inductees were unveiled on American Idol, continuing a recent tradition.
For the third consecutive year, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame revealed its annual inductees on American Idol. Ryan Seacrest and Lionel Richie, a Rock Hall of Famer himself, announced the Rock Hall’s Class of 2026 on Monday, April 13.
Of the 17 artists nominated for the Rock Hall this year, the following made the cut in the performers category:
- Phil Collins: Innovative pop-rock hitmaker.
- Billy Idol: New Wave punk icon.
- Iron Maiden: Heavy metal gods.
- Joy Division/New Order: Post-punk-turned-dance pioneers.
- Oasis: Britpop icons.
- Sade: Sophisticated R&B group.
- Luther Vandross: Smooth R&B legend.
- Wu-Tang Clan: Culture-shifting hip-hop collective.
But that’s not all. Several artists are entering the Rock Hall with the early influence award:
- Celia Cruz: Queen of salsa.
- Fela Kuti: Afrobeat architect.
- Queen Latifah: Hip-hop boundary-breaker.
- MC Lyte: Rap pioneer.
- Gram Parsons: Country rock godfather.
Linda Creed (Philly soul songwriter), Arif Mardin (producer), Jimmy Miller (producer/musician), and Rick Rubin (producer) are inducted via the musical excellence award. Finally, Ed Sullivan receives the Ahmet Ertegun award.
The 2026 induction ceremony will take place Nov. 14 in Los Angeles, and will be aired on ABC and Disney+ in December.
Once this year’s induction is completed, everyone from the 2023 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ballot will have been inducted. The last time that happened was 2015, when Lou Reed’s induction marked the ‘completion’ of the 2000 ballot.
The induction of post-punk outfit Joy Division and dance-rock pioneers New Order together marks the third time the Rock Hall has seen fit to salute two bands with overlapping members at the same time, following Parliament/Funkadelic in 1997 and The Small Faces/The Faces in 2012. (Similar-ish, the Rascals were inducted in 1997 as The (Young) Rascals.)
Eight of the marquee names in the Class of 2026 are being inducted posthumously: Luther Vandross, Celia Cruz, Fela Kuti, Gram Parsons, Linda Creed, Arif Mardin, Jimmy Miller and Ed Sullivan. Of the late inductees, Parsons died the youngest—he was only 26 years old when he died of a drug and alcohol overdose. Cruz was the eldest, making it to 77 before dying of complications related to cancer. Just last year, Creed’s frequent songwriting partner, Thom Bell, was posthumously inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
So who was on the 2026 ballot who didn’t make it in this year? That would be The Black Crowes, Jeff Buckley, Mariah Carey, Melissa Etheridge, Lauryn Hill, INXS, New Edition, P!NK and Shakira. Interestingly, New Edition won the 2026 fan vote but failed to make the Class of 2026; while the fan vote contributes to the final tally, it is not the deciding factor. Fan vote runner-up Phil Collins did, however, make the grade this year.
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