The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation has announced its list of 17 performer nominees to be considered for induction in its Class of 2026. Despite being eligible for decades—artists or bands become eligible for nomination 25 years after releasing their first commercial recording—Phil Collins appears on the ballot as a solo artist for the first time. And alongside such other worthy first-timers as Billy Idol, Melissa Etheridge and INXS, are such popular acts that have also been nominated for the first time: New Edition and Shakira.

These six acts are joined on this year’s ballot by the Black Crowes, Jeff Buckley, Mariah Carey, Lauryn Hill, Iron Maiden, Joy Division/New Order, Oasis, P!NK, Sade, Luther Vandross and Wu-Tang Clan.

Let’s face it: the Hall may have been created with rock ‘n’ roll in mind when it began inducting artists in 1986, but over the past decade or so, it has fully morphed into an institution celebrating popular music.

Over the years, the evolving nominating committee —a non-transparent group of several dozen-plus music executives, artists, disc jockeys and journalists that in recent years has included Dave Grohl, Questlove, Steven Van Zandt, David Fricke, Sheryl Crow, Tom Morello and Meg Griffin, deems such recording artists as Miles Davis, Dolly Parton and Missy Elliott, not to mention some of the 2026 nominees—all world class musicians, mind you—as more “rock ‘n’ roll” than such classic rock legends as Jethro Tull, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Meat Loaf, Steppenwolf and the J. Geils Band, just to mention five who have repeatedly been ignored by either the nominating committee or the voters.

And just like the Film Academy, the Rock Hall never reveals its vote totals. In contrast, each year, the National Baseball Hall of Fame reveals the vote totals for its new inductees, whose names must appear on at least 75% of the ballots of the roughly 400 voters, all of whom are baseball writers with at least 10 consecutive years of covering the sport.

Did someone win/get elected into the Rock Hall in a landslide or was it by one vote? We never know. It’s their sandbox, so to speak.

In the Feb. 25 announcement, John Sykes, Chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation which selects the nominees, said, “This diverse list of talented nominees recognizes the ever-evolving faces and sounds of Rock & Roll and its continued impact on youth culture. Induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is music’s highest honor and we look forward to celebrating the Class of 2026 this Fall.”

Among this year’s 17 nominees, 10 are appearing on the ballot for the first time: Jeff Buckley, Phil Collins, Melissa Etheridge, Lauryn Hill, INXS, New Edition, P!NK, Shakira, Luther Vandross, Wu-Tang Clan.

In a 2024 interview, Sykes—a gifted and highly respected industry executive, whom I’ve met a few times over the years—said of the annual nominating meeting, “It goes on for hours. The committee is very passionate about who they want. This is not something they just think about in the taxi ride over to the meeting. They really come prepared with their artists and why they deserve it. It’s not about just record sales or the amount of hits.”

As for the topic of the Hall’s name, Sykes said, “I think it’s because some people don’t understand the meaning of rock and roll.” He shared a story of a conversation he had with Jay-Z, himself a 2021 inductee. “We’ve got to do a better job explaining it,” he said he told the star. “Little Richard, Otis Redding, Chuck Berry — these artists were the cornerstones of rock and roll. If you look at the sounds over the years, those artists ended up influencing hip-hop.”

In recent years, many core “arena rock” artists were finally selected, many of which weren’t so-called “critical darlings,” including Bad Company (2025), Peter Frampton and Foreigner (2024), the Doobie Brothers (2020), Def Leppard (2019), the Moody Blues, Bon Jovi, Dire Straits, and the Cars (all in 2018), YES, Journey and ELO (2017), and so on. But each of these acts had been eligible for decades.

And if you think that star acts from the ’60s and ’70s like Three Dog Night, the Guess Who, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Blue Öyster Cult and Grand Funk Railroad, to name just a few, will get in, it’s highly unlikely and becomes less likely with each passing year.

Nominee ballots for the Class of 2026 will be distributed to an international voting panel composed of over 1,200 artists, historians and music industry professionals. The Hall’s selection criteria includes an artist’s impact on music culture, influence on other musicians that have followed, as well as the scope and longevity of their career and body of work.

The 2026 Performer Inductees will be revealed in April, along with those Inductees entering the Hall under three special committee categories: Musical Influence, Musical Excellence and the Ahmet Ertegun Non Performer Award.

This year’s Induction Ceremony will take place in the Fall, with exact dates and ticket sale details following soon.

Related: The Rock Hall’s 100 crucial omissions