Phil Collins, 75, Mariah Carey, 56, Lauryn Hill, 59, Billy Idol, 70, and Melissa Etheridge, 64, are among the grownups leading the list of 2026 nominees for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, a wide net that includes rap, metal, R&B, hip-hop, Britpop, blues rock and pop.
The hall revealed the list of 17 performer nominees Wednesday, a list that also includes Sade, 67, Luther Vandross, New Edition and the Wu-Tang Clan.
Billy Idol returns to the nominations after missing induction last year. The list this time also repeats two sets of musical brothers who have had public feuds and recent reunions— The Black Crowes and Oasis.
Collins, with such hits as “In the Air Tonight” and “One More Night,” has earned eight Grammys, including album of the year in 1985 for “No Jacket Required.” Hill’s “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” made history as the first hip-hop album to win the Grammy for album of the year in 1999.
Carey, nominated in 2024 and 2025, has had 19 No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, while soul-jazz vocalist Sade, also nominated in 2024, had such soft rock hits as “Smooth Operator” and “The Sweetest Taboo.” The Wu-Tang Clan have been hailed as rap innovators since their game-changing 1993 debut album “Enter the Wu-Tang.”
Ten of the 17 nominees are on the ballot for the first time: Collins, Etheridge, Hill, INXS, New Edition, Pink, Shakira, Vandross and Wu-Tang Clan.
Two-time Grammy winner Etheridge is best known for her songs “Come to My Window” and “I’m the Only One.” INXS ruled the late 1980s charts with hits like “Need You Tonight,” “Devil Inside” and “New Sensation.”
Vandross, who sold more than 25 million albums and had the hits “Here and Now” and “Any Love,” died in 2005.
“This diverse list of talented nominees recognizes the ever-evolving faces and sounds of Rock & Roll and its continued impact on youth culture,” John Sykes, chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, said in a statement.
The 2026 inductees will be revealed in April, along with inductees entering the hall under three special committee categories: Musical influence, musical excellence and the Ahmet Ertegun Non-Performer Award.
Artists must have released their first commercial recording at least 25 years before they’re eligible for induction. Nominees will be voted on by more than 1,200 artists, historians and music industry professionals.
Last year, Cyndi Lauper, 72, Chubby Checker, 84, and Joe Cocker were among the performers inducted.
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