Taylor Swift may be headed for a Songwriters Hall of Fame record. Swift, who received the Hal David Starlight Award from the SHOF in 2010, is nominated for full membership in the organization. She would be the first person to graduate from the Starlight Award (an award for a songwriter who shows promise, which dates to 2004) to full membership status.
A songwriter with a notable catalog of songs qualifies for SHOF induction 20 years after the first commercial release of a song. Swift’s first single, “Tim McGraw,” was released in June 2006. The SHOF Induction and Awards gala is typically held in June, so she just made it.
As always, the list of nominees is divided into non-performing and performing songwriters. Of the 14 non-performing songwriters or songwriting teams on the ballot, the top three will be inducted. Likewise, of the 13 performing songwriters or songwriting teams, the top three will be inducted.
The list of nominees includes several people who have won Grammys for song of the year – Terry Britten and Graham Lyle (“What’s Love Got to Do With It”); Kenny Loggins (“What a Fool Believes,” a co-write with Michael McDonald); and Christopher “Tricky” Stewart (“Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It),” a co-write with Beyoncé, Terius “The-Dream” Nash and Thaddis Harrell).
Several of the nominees have been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: LL Cool J (who received a 2021 award for musical excellence from the Rock Hall); David Byrne (whose band Talking Heads was inducted into the Rock Hall in 2002); Charlotte Caffey, Kathy Valentine and Jane M. Wiedlin of Go-Go’s, who were inducted into the Rock Hall in 2021; and Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS, who were inducted into the Rock Hall in 2014.
News of Simmons and Stanley’s SHOF nomination comes one week after the death of Ace Frehley, KISS’ original lead guitarist and founding member. Frehley, 74, died Oct. 16 in New Jersey.
Two of the SHOF nominees are Kennedy Center Honorees – LL Cool J (who was honored in 2017) and KISS (which will receive the honor in December).
Other members of prominent groups, not already mentioned, on this year’s ballot include Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings (The Guess Who); Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell (America); and Harry Wayne Casey (KC and the Sunshine Band).
Two of the SHOF nominees are already in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame – Bob McDill, who was inducted into the Nashville body in 1985, and Jeffrey Steele (2013).
The list includes several songwriters who have often collaborated with people who are already in the Hall: Walter Afanasieff (best known for his collaboration with 2022 inductee Mariah Carey); Andreas Carlsson (who cowrote Backstreet Boys’ megahit “I Want It That Way” with 2017 inductee Max Martin); Tom Snow (who has often collaborated with 2024 inductee Dean Pitchford); Richard Carpenter (who cowrote many Carpenters hits with 2011 inductee John Bettis); and Swift (who wrote one of her most prized songs, “All Too Well,” with 2023 inductee Liz Rose).
The Songwriters Hall of Fame was established in 1969. Eligible voting members will have until midnight ET on Dec. 4 to turn in their ballots. The 2026 inductees will be announced in early 2026.
In recent years, the SHOF has created what it calls the “Legacy” class, to put extra on writers in both categories who were eligible for induction in 1990 or earlier (in other words, whose breakthrough as a songwriter dates to 1970 or earlier). Voters are required to use at least one of their three votes in each category for a legacy writer. (Failure to do so will result in their ballot being voided.)
The 2025 class consisted of George Clinton; Ashley Gorley; Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins; Mike Love; Tony Macaulay; Tom Johnston, Michael McDonald and Patrick Simmons of The Doobie Brothers and the late Bert Berns.
Here’s the full list of 2026 Songwriters Hall of Fame nominees. The songs listed as examples of the songwriter’s work were supplied by the SHOF.
Non-Performing Songwriters
Walter Afanasieff – “All I Want for Christmas Is You” * “My All” * “Hero” * “Love Will Survive” * “One Sweet Day”
Pete Bellotte – “Hot Stuff” * “I Feel Love” * “Love To Love You Baby” * “Heaven Knows” * “Push It to the Limit”
Andreas Carlsson – “I Want It That Way” * “Bye Bye Bye” * “It’s Gonna Be Me” * “That’s The Way It Is” * “Waking Up in Vegas”
Steve Kipner – “Physical” * “Hard Habit To Break” * “Genie in a Bottle” * “These Words” * “Breakeven”
Jeffrey LeVasseur p/k/a Jeffrey Steele – “What Hurts the Most” * “My Wish” * “Knee Deep” * “The Cowboy in Me” * “I’d Give Anything/She’d Give Anything”
Patrick Leonard – “Like a Prayer” * “Live To Tell” * “Nevermind” * “You Want It Darker” * “Yet Another Movie”
Terry Britten and Graham Lyle – “What’s Love Got To Do With It” * “We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)” * “Typical Male” * “Devil Woman” * “I Should Have Known Better”
Bob McDill – “Everything That Glitters Is Not Gold” * “Good Ole Boys Like Me” * “Gone Country” * “Don’t Close Your Eyes” * “Song of the South”
Kenny Nolan – “Lady Marmalade” * “My Eyes Adored You” * “I Like Dreamin’” * “Masterpiece” * “Get Dancin’”
Martin Page – “We Built This City” * “These Dreams” * “King of Wishful Thinking” * “Faithful” * “Fallen Angel”
Vini Poncia – “Do I Love You” * “I Was Made for Lovin You” * “Oh My My” * “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” * “Just Too Many People”
Tom Snow – “He’s So Shy” * “Let’s Hear it for the Boy” * “Dreaming of You” * “Don’t Know Much” * “After All”
Christopher “Tricky” Stewart – “Umbrella” * “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” * “Obsessed” * “Just Fine” * “Break My Soul”
Larry Weiss – “Rhinestone Cowboy” * “Bend Me Shape Me” * “Hi Ho Silver Lining” * “Your Baby Doesn’t Love You Anymore” * “Darling Take Me Back”
Performing Songwriters
Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell (America) – “A Horse With No Name” * “Ventura Highway” * “Sister Golden Hair” * “I Need You”* “Tin Man”
David Byrne – “Once in a Lifetime” * “Psycho Killer” * “Burning Down the House” * “Naive Melody (This Must Be the Place)” * “Strange Overtones”
Richard Carpenter – “Goodbye to Love” * “Top of the World” * “Yesterday Once More” * “Only Yesterday” * “Merry Christmas Darling”
Harry Wayne Casey – “Rock Your Baby” * “Get Down Tonight” * “That’s The Way (I Like It)” * “(Shake Shake Shake) Shake Your Booty” * “Please Don’t Go”
Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings (The Guess Who) – “These Eyes” * “Laughing” * “No Time” * “American Woman” * “No Sugar Tonight” / “New Mother Nature”
Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley (KISS) – “Rock and Roll All Nite” * “I Love It Loud” * “Calling Dr. Love” * “Shout It Out Loud” * “Christine Sixteen”
Kenny Loggins – “Danny’s Song” * “Footloose” * “Celebrate Me Home” * “Return to Pooh Corner” * “What a Fool Believes”
Sarah McLachlan – “Angel” * “Sweet Surrender” * “I Will Remember You” * “Building a Mystery” *
“Adia”
Alecia B. Moore p/k/a P!nk – “Glitter in the Air” * “Just Like a Pill” * “Raise Your Glass” * “So What” * “What About Us”
Boz Scaggs – “Lido Shuffle” * “Lowdown” * “We’re All Alone” * “Thanks to You” * “Look What You’ve Done to Me”
James Todd Smith p/k/a LL Cool J – “Mama Said Knock You Out” * “I Need Love” * “Around the Way Girl” * “Going Back to Cali” * “Illegal Search”
Taylor Swift – “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)” * “Blank Space” * “Anti-Hero” * “Love Story” * “The Last Great American Dynasty”
Charlotte Caffey, Kathy Valentine and Jane M. Wiedlin (Go-Go’s) – “We Got the Beat” * “Our Lips Are Sealed” * “Vacation” * “Head Over Heels” * “This Town”