Taylor Swift, Go-Gos, Weezer Among 2026 National Recording Registry Inductees
The Librarian of Congress selects 25 ‘culturally significant’ works each year.
Taylor Swift’s transformative pop album 1989, The Go-Go’s debut record Beauty and the Beat, Vince Gill’s signature “Go Rest High On That Mountain,” Weezer’s self-titled debut Weezer (The Blue Album), and Beyoncé’s iconic “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It),” have been selected as some of the defining sounds of history and culture that will join the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in 2026.
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. Acting Librarian of Congress Robert R. Newlen has inducted 25 new works for their importance in the nation’s recorded sound heritage.
Swift’s 1989 is the most recent inductee, released in 2014, while the oldest is the 1944 single “Cocktails for Two” from Spike Jones and His City Slickers.
Additional 2026 inductees include Reba McEntire’s defining country album Rumor Has It and Oliver Nelson’s early Impulse! release The Blues and the Abstract Truth. They are joined by works from Chaka Khan, Ray Charles, The Byrds, Gladys Knight and the Pips, and Paul Anka among others.
“Music and recorded sound are essential, wonderful parts of our daily lives and our national heritage. The National Recording Registry works to preserve our national playlist for generations to come,” Newlen said. “The Library of Congress is proud to select these audio treasures and will work to preserve them with our partners in the recording industry.”
“I feel extremely honored to be part of the American artists that are a part of the Library of Congress,” Go-Gos singer and songwriter Belinda 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.”
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