Current Affairs

Preservation: Library of Congress Adds 25 Recordings to the National Recording Registry; Selections Include Sounds by Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, The Go-Go’s, Vince Gill, Ray Charles, Chaka Kahn, Weezer, and Reba McEntire

May 14, 2026

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.

Acting Librarian of Congress Robert R. Newlen today named 25 recordings as audio treasures worthy of preservation for all time based on their cultural, historical or aesthetic importance in the nation’s recorded sound heritage.

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.

“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.”

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.

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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/.

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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)