Taylor Swift, Beyoncé Recordings Added to National Recording Registry
The Library of Congress has announced the 2026 selections for the National Recording Registry, including recordings by Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.
Each year, 25 recordings are inducted into the Registry based on their cultural, historical, or aesthetic significance. Recordings must be at least 10 years old to be eligible.
The selections are intended to represent the diversity of American sound recording heritage.
The public can submit nominations for consideration, with over 3,000 received this year.
Taylor Swift’s 1989 and Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” are among the recordings being added. Inclusion of 21st-century recordings is infrequent.
The oldest recording selected for preservation is “Cocktails for Two” from 1944, performed by Spike Jones and His City Slickers.
Additional inductees include Weezer’s self-titled Blue Album, The Go-Go’s’ debut album Beauty and the Beat, Vince Gill’s “Go Rest High on That Mountain,” Chaka Khan’s “I Feel For You,” and the soundtrack to the video game Doom.
Jane Wiedlin of The Go-Go’s stated, “I don’t know that there is a better feeling than knowing that women are raising their daughters and playing them The Go-Go’s. As far as The Go-Go’s’ legacy, the biggest accomplishment is that we broke the glass ceiling. I get in a lot of arguments over this, but there is literally no other all-female band that went No. 1 on the charts, play their own instruments and write their own songs. None. That becomes more and more important as time goes on. The idea that it continues on through generations is just astounding.”
