2026 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees revealed
Of the 17 nominees for the 2026 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 10 music legends will appear on the ballot for the first time.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class of 2026 puts rock back in the spotlight, with Iron Maiden, Billy Idol and Oasis joining the eight new members.
This lineup also includes Sade, the only female.
The latest participants announced during the live broadcast of the April 13 “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Night” episode of “American Idol” are:
The chosen group was chosen from a pool of 17 candidates, 10 of whom appeared on the ballot for the first time, and spanned rock, hip-hop, pop, soul and Latin music. Mr. Collins, Mr. Vandross and the Wu-Tang Clan were voting for the first time.
Those not chosen include the Black Crowes, Jeff Buckley, Mariah Carey, Melissa Ethridge, Lauryn Hill, INXS, Pink, Shakira and fan vote winner New Edition.
In addition to the Hall of Fame performers, Celia Cruz, Fela Kuti, Queen Latifah, MC Lyte and Gram Parsons will receive the Early Influence Award. Linda Creed, Arif Mardin, Jimmy Miller and Rick Rubin will receive the Excellence in Musical award. The annual Ahmet Ertegun Award will be in memory of Ed Sullivan.
When will the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony be broadcast?
Rock Hall ceremonies have been broadcast live for several years, but plans are to return to a recorded format in 2026. The ceremony will be held at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on November 14th and will premiere on ABC and Disney+ in December, date to be determined.
Ticket sales information for the 2026 entrance ceremony will also be announced at a later date.
The 2027 ceremony will return to its home base in Cleveland.
Who won the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame fan vote?
New Edition received over 1 million votes in this year’s fan vote, followed by Phil Collins with 900,825 votes, Pink with 852,581 votes, Shakira with 738,034 votes, and Luther Vandross with 732,747 votes.
New Edition joined Phish in 2025 and the Dave Matthews Band in 2020, making them the only artists who received flowers from fans but were not inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the same year (DMB will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2024).
Approximately 9.5 million votes were cast during the fan voting period from February 25th to April 3rd.
After that period and voting ended, the top seven fan votes each received one vote towards the final total.
How does an artist get inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
To be eligible for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, an individual artist or band must have released their first commercial recording at least 25 years before the year of nomination.
Melissa Ruggieri is one of more than 1,200 voting members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, made up of artists, historians, and members of the music industry.
