For a music lover, late February is turning into the time of year when you will either be filled with hope or made enraged. This is when the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announces its list of new nominees for induction. 2026 is no different.
On Wednesday, the Rock Hall announced that 17 potential inductees could make up this year's class. Some are returnees, but 10 are first-time nominees. Technically, there are 18 different artists, as the Hall continues to join Joy Division and New Order together, which makes sense.
The Hall also continues to push non-rock acts as potential inductees, which some fans of rock hold in disdain. The name of the museum has "rock" in it, after all, so one should be able to assume that most of the artists who get nominated should be part of that genre. Seven artists nominated this year aren't rock acts.
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announces 2026 nominees
To be part of the induction process, an artist has to have 25 years pass since their first commercial recording. Of the artists in 2026, only P!NK had an album come out as late as the first possible year that could be included, 2000. Does that mean the Hall has been waiting to induct her? Not really.
Fan voting for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is now open at the museum's official website. This is more of a fun thing to do instead of one that truly matters. All the fan votes are collected into one ballot, which will be added to more than a thousand other ballots cast by artists, music industry professionals, and music historians.
2026 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominees:
- The Black Crowes
- Jeff Buckley
- Mariah Carey
- Phil Collins
- Melissa Etheridge
- Lauryn Hill
- Billy Idol
- INXS
- Iron Maiden
- Joy Division/New Order
- New Edition
- Oasis
- P!NK
- Sade
- Shakira
- Luther Vandross
- Wu-Tang Clan
In 2025, the fan vote was won by jam band Phish. That turned out to be for naught as Phish was not inducted, and, in fact, does not appear on the 2026 group above for potential induction.
The artists to be inducted will be announced in April, and the official ceremony will occur in the autumn. The induction ceremony will be live broadcast and streamed, and usually followed by other streamers picking up the event on January 1. Hulu did this for the 2025 class this year.