National Recording Registry Inducts Sounds of Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, The Go-Go’s, Vince Gill, Weezer, Reba McEntire and More

National Recording Registry Inducts Sounds of Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, The Go-Go’s, Vince Gill, Weezer, Reba McEntire and More Recordings from Paul Anka, Broadway’s “Chicago,” The Byrds, Rosanne Cash, Ray Charles, Chaka Khan and José Feliciano Among 25 Selected for Preservation Taylor Swift’s transformative pop album “1989,” Beyoncé’s standout “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It),” The Go-Go’s debut album “Beauty and the Beat,” Vince Gill’s signature “Go Rest High On That Mountain,” Weezer’s self-titled debut “Weezer (The Blue Album),” Chaka Khan’s crossover hit “I Feel for You,” and Broadway’s original cast album of “Chicago” 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 2026 class of inductees span 70 years of music and recorded sound, including: The Byrds’ single “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There is a Season),” Reba McEntire’s defining country album “Rumor Has It,” Rosanne Cash’s album “The Wheel,” Gladys Knight and the Pips’ “Midnight Train to Georgia,” Ray Charles’ “Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music” and José Feliciano’s beloved Christmas classic “Feliz Navidad.” For the third time, video game music was selected with the soundtrack from Doom. Selected singles from the 1940s and 1950s include Paul Anka’s “Put Your Head on My Shoulder,” Kaye Ballard’s “In Other Words (Fly Me to the Moon),” Pérez Prado’s “Mambo No. 5,” and the earliest recording, “Cocktails for Two” by Spike Jones and His City Slickers from 1944. The public made more than 3,000 nominations of recordings to consider this year. Weezer was among the most nominated selections. The 2026 selections mark the first recordings by Swift and Beyoncé chosen for the registry. It also marks the first time a daughter and father have both been included in the registry with the selection of Cash’s “The Wheel.” Her father Johnny Cash’s “At Folsom Prison” was selected in 2003. The recordings selected for the National Recording Registry this year bring the number of titles on the registry to 700, representing a small portion of the national library’s vast recorded sound collection of nearly 4 million items. The 2026 selections span the sounds of country, pop, jazz, sports, Latin, folk, funk, R&B and more. The Library of Congress works with partners to ensure each recording will be preserved at the Library or by another entity and available for future generations. Listen to many of the recordings on your favorite streaming service. The Digital Media Association, a member of the National Recording Preservation Board, compiled a list of some streaming services with National Recording Registry playlists, available here: https://dima.org/playlist/national-recording-registry-class-of-2026/. NPR’s “1A” will feature selections in the series “The Sounds of America” about this year’s National Recording Registry, including interviews with the Library and several featured artists in the weeks ahead. Follow the conversation about the registry on Instagram, Facebook and other Library social media @librarycongress and #NatRecRegistry. Recordings Selected for the National Recording Registry in 2026 (chronological order) “Cocktails for Two” – Spike Jones and His City Slickers (1944) (single) “Mambo No. 5” – Pérez Prado and His Orchestra (1950) (single) “Teardrops from My Eyes” – Ruth Brown (1950) (single) “Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words)” – Kaye Ballard (1954) (single) “Put Your Head On My Shoulder” – Paul Anka (1959) (single) “The Blues and the Abstract Truth” – Oliver Nelson (1961) (album) “Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music” – Ray Charles (1962) (album) “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)” – The Byrds (1965) (single) “Amen, Brother” – The Winstons (1969) (single) “Feliz Navidad” – José Feliciano (1970) (single) “The Fight of the Century: Ali vs. Frazier” (March 8, 1971) (broadcast) “Midnight Train to Georgia” – Gladys Knight and the Pips (1973) (single) “Chicago” Original Cast Album (1975) (album) “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” – The Charlie Daniels Band (1979) (single) “Beauty and the Beat” – The Go-Go’s (1981) (album) “Texas Flood” – Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble (1983) (album) “I Feel For You” – Chaka Khan (1984) (single) “Your Love” – Jamie Principle (1986) / Jamie Principle/Frankie Knuckles (1987) (singles) “Rumor Has It” – Reba McEntire (1990) (album) “The Wheel” – Rosanne Cash (1993) (album) “Doom” Soundtrack – Bobby Prince, composer (1993) “Go Rest High On That Mountain” – Vince Gill (1994) (single) “Weezer (The Blue Album)” – Weezer (1994) (album) “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” – Beyoncé (2008) (single) “1989” – Taylor Swift (2014) (album) The public can submit nominations throughout the year on the Library’s website. Nominations for next year will be accepted until Oct. 1, 2026. The public may nominate recordings for the registry here. Vince Gill Says “Go Rest High On That Mountain” Connects with Audience In an interview at the Library of Congress, Vince Gill reflected on the selection of “Go Rest High On That Mountain” and said it’s a song that people gravitate to when they are going through their hardest times. That’s when the song matters more, he said, and the connection with the audience is deeper. “I’ve been writing songs for over 50 years, and if you asked me straight up what’s the one song you’d want to be remembered for, I would pick this one, hands down. Wouldn’t even be close,” Gill said. “In my era of success, it was probably the least charting record I’ve ever had, but what this song has gone on to do for other people is what makes it special to me. It was written, me, grieving the loss of my big brother. Truth is, I had never planned on recording it. A fellow I worked with, Tony Brown, heard the song and said ‘you have to record it.’ I said ‘It’s a little too personal.’ And he said, ‘No, the world should hear this song.’” Members of The Go-Go’s Respond to Selection Band members from The Go-Go’s, one of the most successful all-female rock bands of all time, said it was an honor to have their work preserved for all time. “I feel extremely honored to be part of the American artists that are a part of the Library of Congress,” 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.” Singer and songwriter Jane Wiedlin recalled how the band blazed new trails for women in music. “I don’t know that there is a better feeling than knowing that women are raising their daughters and playing them The Go-Go’s. As far as The Go-Go’s legacy, the biggest accomplishment is that we broke the glass ceiling,” Wiedlin told the Library. “I get in a lot of arguments over this, but there is literally no other all-female band that went No. 1 on the charts, play their own instruments and write their own songs. None. That becomes more and more important as time goes on. The idea that it continues on through generations is just astounding.” Chaka Khan Reimagined Prince’s ‘I Feel for You’ and Made a Hit While Prince wrote the song “I Feel for You and recorded it himself in 1979, Chaka Khan and her cohorts reimagined it, and the result was a massive crossover hit. "'I Feel for You’ was a moment where everything converged, Prince’s genius, Stevie’s harmonica, Grandmaster Melle Mel’s rap, and whatever God put in me that day,” Khan said. “For the Library of Congress to say this recording belongs in the permanent collection of American sound heritage, that means it wasn’t just a hit, it was history. And I am so very grateful to have been part of it.” José Feliciano Thanks Fans for Listening Upon hearing of the selection of “Feliz Navidad” for the National Recording Registry, José Feliciano wanted to thank his fans. “All my life I’ve just wanted to share my music, making others happy, and so I feel blessed that for over 60 years, I’ve been able to do exactly that, around the world. But then unexpectedly it was “Feliz Navidad,” my little carol, that came along to capture their hearts, year after year!” Feliciano said. “The honor of being added into the Library of Congress National Recording Registry is beyond anything I could've dreamt of, and so, from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you and everyone who listens to my music. I sincerely love you all.”