LOS ANGELES (AP) — Billy Idol, Oasis, Wu-Tang Clan, Phil Collins, Sade, Queen Latifah, Iron Maiden, Joy Division/New Order and the late Luther Vandross will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday.
That's been established since the announcement six months ago. But very little else has been revealed about who will show up, who will perform, who will induct them and who will give musical tributes to the new members.
A few answers are
likely to trickle out this week, but the Rock Hall likes to keep most of the show a surprise.
For the second straight year, the ceremony that moves between Cleveland, New York and Los Angeles will be held at the Peacock Theater in downtown LA. After two years of streaming it live, the Rock Hall is returning to its previous model, where the public won't see it until an edited version airs on ABC and Disney+ in December.
The list of 2026 honorees also includes MC Lyte, Celia Cruz, Fela Kuti and Gram Parsons, along with music producers Rick Rubin, Linda Creed, Arif Mardin and Jimmy Miller and variety show host Ed Sullivan.
Here's a closer look at the nominees and what we know about the show.
Eight of this year's inductees came in through the main entrance — the performer category. A nominating committee put them up for a vote from more than 1,200 people including music industry figures and historians. Artists become eligible for the hall 25 years after their first music release, but it can take much longer for them to be nominated.
The 75-year-old English singer, songwriter and drummer is already in the hall as a member of Genesis and now gets in again for a solo career that brought some of the biggest hits of the 1980s.
The eight-time Grammy winner got in with his first solo nomination and had been eligible since 2006.
Will he perform? No. Collins has said the health problems that have kept him off the stage since 2022 will keep him from performing Saturday. It’s not clear whether he’ll appear to accept the honor.
Key songs: “In the Air Tonight,” “Against All Odds,” “One More Night,” “You'll Be in My Heart,”
The 70-year-old punk-coded English rock singer had also been eligible for the hall since 2006, and voters put him in after his second nomination.
Will he perform? Yes. Idol, who toured the US in summer and had a residency in Las Vegas, plans to play and says he’s going to “bring it” when he does.
Key songs: “Dancing With Myself,” “White Wedding,” “Rebel Yell,” “Eyes Without a Face.”
The epic hip-hop coalition from Staten Island — made up of RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa and previously, the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard — got into the hall with their first nomination. They had been eligible since 2017.
They've been hip-hop innovators since their 1993 debut album, “Enter the Wu-Tang.”
Will they perform? Maybe. They toured together just last year on what was billed as a farewell tour.
Key songs: “C.R.E.A.M.” “Protect Ya Neck,” “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing Ta F’ Wit,” “Gravel Pit.”
The famously feuding brothers of Brit pop, Noel and Liam Gallagher, enter the hall with their second nomination. They've been eligible since 2019. At 54, Liam Gallagher is the youngest inductee of the class of 2026.
Will they perform? Maybe. The moment of their Rock Hall induction seems well-timed for the Gallaghers, who are getting along at least well enough to take the stage together. Last year, Oasis toured for the first time in 16 years, and recently announced that they'll do it again next year. But it's an open question whether they'll bother to show up at the ceremony or will turn their sneer toward it.
Key Songs: “Wonderwall,” “Live Forever,” “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” “Champagne Supernova.”
The two British rock bands will get a rare joint nomination that makes sense given their members and circumstances.
Joy Division was a dark and seminal post-punk band formed in 1976. When their charismatic lead singer, Ian Curtis, died in 1980, the remaining members formed New Order, which went in the direction of electronic and dance music.
Will they perform? Maybe. Bassist and key member of both bands, Peter Hook, has been estranged from his mates for many years. Whether they'll bury the hatchet for a moment is one of the night's biggest questions.
They had been eligible since 2003 and got in with their third nomination.
Key songs: “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” “Disorder,” “Blue Monday,” “Bizarre Love Triangle.”
The scorching rock band who led the new wave of British heavy metal starting in the late 1970s got an induction that many thought was long overdue.
Will they perform? No. Iron Maiden are together and thriving, but so much so that they’re on tour in Australia and won’t be appearing to accept or to play.
Voters installed them on their third nomination. They'd been eligible since 2005.
Key songs: “The Trooper,” “Fear of the Dark,” “Run to the Hills,” “Aces High.”
The love songs of Luther Vandross, delivered with a voice of velvet, made him one of the definitive R&B singers of his era.
The solo career of the New Jersey-born Vandross began in the early 1980s, and he went on to win eight Grammys and have 11 consecutive platinum albums.
He was also a songwriter, producer and one of pop music's great collaborators with artists including Rock Hall members David Bowie and Aretha Franklin.
Vandross was 54 when he died in 2005.
He's been eligible since the year after his death, but did not get a nomination until this year, and was voted in on the first ballot.
Key songs: “Never Too Much,” “Dance With My Father,” “I'd Rather,” “Here and Now.”
First, a head-scratching fact that even big fans may not know. Sade is the name of the band. For real. It is also the first name of its Nigeria-born, England-raised lead singer Sade Adu, making many think she's a solo act.
But she'll be inducted along with the members of her band, who entranced audiences with their blend of jazz, smooth-and-sultry R&B and sophisti-pop when they launched in Britain in the mid-1980s.
Will they perform? Maybe. And it’ll be momentous if they do. Adu is famously media-shy and the band hasn't played on stage since 2011.
Key songs: “Smooth Operator,” “No Ordinary Love,” “Like a Tattoo,” “Kiss of Life”
Some inductees are brought in through a sort of side door, getting awards handed out by committees. But they're still considered full-fledged hall members. Rubin and the other three producer-inductees are all recipients of the Musical Excellence Award. Sullivan is getting the Ahmet Ertegun Award for nonmusicians.
And the following five artists are getting in by receiving the Early Influence Award.
The 56-year-old New Jersey-born Queen Latifah achieved unprecedented success for a female rapper, becoming a star at age 19 with the release of her 1989 album “All Hail the Queen” and the single “Ladies First.”
She later became known more for her acting in film and television, including a role in “Chicago” that got her an Oscar nomination.
Will she perform? Probably. It hasn't been made official, but all signs point to yes.
Key songs: “U.N.I.T.Y.,” “Ladies First,” “When You're Good to Mama.”
About two years before Latifah in nearby Brooklyn, MC Lyte did her own trailblazing, becoming the first female rapper to release a full solo album, “Lyte as a Rock.”
Her hard-edged rhymes brought a political consciousness that was growing in hip-hop at the time.
Will they perform? Almost certainly. The 56-year-old has been doing a “Road to the Hall” concert tour in the run-up to the ceremony.
Key songs: “Keep on Keepin' On,” “Cold Rock a Party,” “Ruffneck.”
The queen of salsa and innovator and spreader of Afro-Cuban sounds and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century, the Havana-born singer Cruz becomes the first member of the Hall of Fame who sang primarily in Spanish.
She was 77 when she died in 2003.
Key songs: “Vasos Vacíos,” “La Vida Es Un Carnaval,” “El Último Adiós.”
The Nigerian saxophonist, bandleader, progenitor and activist who died in 1997 at age 58 becomes the first African-born artist to enter the Hall of Fame in the same year he became the first African artist to receive the Grammys' Lifetime Achievement Award.
He was born in 1938 in colonial Nigeria. His music career, which spanned the late 1950s up to the 1990s, is a signature blend of high-octane horn, jazz, and funk with Yoruba rhythms.
Key songs: “Water No Get Enemy,” “Zombie,” “Let's Start.”
Arguably the most important figure in rock's turn toward country in the late 1960s and early '70s, Parsons joined the Byrds for their very country “Sweethearts of the Rodeo,” was a founding member of the Flying Burrito Brothers, and made a pair of solo records where he duetted with a folk singer he discovered named Emmylou Harris, launching her storied country career.
He was 26 when he died in 1973.
Key songs: “Hickory Wind,” “Love Hurts,” “Return of the Grievous Angel.”
