Forty years after its first induction, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is capping off a banner year with the 2026 ceremony in Los Angeles on Saturday.
Phil Collins, Luther Vandross, Sade, Billy Idol and Iron Maiden are among the '80s icons making the cut this year. They're joined by British post-punk legends Joy Division and their sequel/spin-off group, New Order. From the '90s, recently reunited British band Oasis enters the hall this year, as does the iconic hip-hop collective Wu-Tang Clan.
Acts can be nominated 25 years after the release of their first record and are chosen by a panel of 1,200 musicians and industry experts.
They’re all part of this year’s inductee exhibit, which spans everything from Luther Vandross’ touring outfit to the first bass guitar owned by Joy Division’s Peter Hook.
On Nov. 22, Cuyahoga County residents get free admission as the museum also opens the first phase of its $135 million expansion. The project increases the building’s footprint by a third with a new entrance and more exhibit and event space. At the 2023 groundbreaking, CEO Greg Harris said the design complements the I.M. Pei-designed building, which opened in 1995 and was originally slated for a spot on the Cuyahoga River, near Tower City.
“It picks up the geometry of the iconic pyramid with triangles and spheres and cylinders, and then it projects it out from the pyramid, soaring to the west,” Harris said. “It creates a space where you see the lake as soon as you walk in and see this open space.”
The debut of the expansion’s new community space caps a year of high-profile events and exhibits. This fall, Signature Sign Co. created a new front entrance sign to replace the iconic "Long Live Rock" letters along Key Plaza. In September, the Rock Hall partnered with Rush to honor the Canadian prog trio, who have donated a number of artifacts to the museum in the past year. The band was inducted in 2013 and have credited Cleveland radio with breaking them into the United States in the early 1970s.
Another ‘70s staple, Paul McCartney’s Wings, got its own Rock Hall exhibit this past year, making the case for the band as its own entity, apart from its superstar founder and leader.
Class of 2026
Along with this year's performer inductees, 10 people were chosen in the early influence, non-performing and behind-the-scenes categories.
For 23 years, Ed Sullivan’s Sunday night television show hosted everyone from the Beatles to Stevie Wonder to Elvis Presley to the Supremes. All of those acts have been inducted, and this year Sullivan posthumously receives the Ahmet Ertegun Award.
He’s joined in the Musical Excellence category by four of the most successful record producers of the 1970s and ‘80s. Linda Creed died in 1986, but not before creating a string of memorable Philly Soul and R&B classics such as “The Greatest Love of All.” Arif Mardin spent 30 years at Atlantic Records, producing or arranging hits for the Bee Gees, Roberta Flack, Hall & Oates and numerous others. Jimmy Miller produced a string of classic albums for the Rolling Stones and Traffic. Rick Rubin, co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, played a key role in launching the careers of the Beastie Boys, LL Cool J and Run-DMC. He also produced Johnny Cash’s “American Recordings” series in the 1990s.
Early influence
The five acts in the Early Influence category embody what Harris has called “the collision of rhythm & blues, country and gospel.” Gram Parsons injected country into the music of the Byrds and the Rolling Stones before his death in 1973. Nigerian activist Fela Kuti combined funk, jazz and Caribbean music to create Afrobeat. Celia Cruz, the Cuban “Queen of Salsa,” was honored in 2024 by appearing on a U.S. quarter. Hip-hop pioneers MC Lyte and Queen Latifah, both still active and recording, round out this year’s class.
Change of venues
From 1986-2008, the ceremony was held at New York City’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel, with two exceptions. The Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles hosted the 1993 inductions. In 1997, after much lobbying by Northeast Ohio leaders, the ceremony moved to the Renaissance Hotel in Cleveland.
After that — from 2009 until the COVID-19 pandemic — the ceremonies generally took place in April on a rotation of one year at Cleveland’s Public Hall followed by two years in New York City. Exceptions were 2013, when the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles hosted, and 2020, when the ceremony went virtual.
Starting in 2021, the event moved to the fall and rotated among Cleveland, Los Angeles and New York. Rock Hall Foundation Chairman John Sykes previously suggested that London and Nashville could be added to the rotation.
