The wonderwall of secrecy has come down and the voters’ wishes for who will make it into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year have become known. The eight performers voted into the class of 2026 are:

● Phil Collins
● Billy Idol
● Iron Maiden
● Joy Division/New Order
● Oasis
● Sade
● Luther Vandross
● Wu-Tang Clan

There were 17 nominees put up for selection this year, more than ever. The results of the balloting mean that nine contenders did not make it in for 2026 (the Hall would surely prefer that you not call them snubs). These are: the Black Crowes, Jeff Buckley, Mariah Carey, Melissa Etheridge, Lauryn Hill, INXS, New Edition, Pink and Shakira.

But the Hall finds other ways to be encompassing, so there aren’t just eight inductees this year, but a whopping 18. The remaining 10 are selected outside of the wider voter process, by Rock Hall committee members, and come in not as “performers” per se but in the categories of Early Influences, Musical Excellence and the singular Ahmet Ertegun Award. These additional inductees are:

Early Influence Award:

Celia Cruz

Fela Kuti

Queen Latifah

MC Lyte

Gram Parsons

Musical Excellence Award:

Linda Creed

Arif Mardin

Jimmy Miller   

Rick Rubin

Ahmet Ertegun Award:

These honorees were announced live on-air during a Monday night episode of “American Idol,” by 2022 Hall of Fame inductee Lionel Richie and Ryan Seacrest, in a Hall of Fame-themed episode.

The induction ceremony will take place Nov. 14 in Los Angeles and be seen on ABC and Disney+ at some point in December, producers announced. In the previous three years since Disney got rights to air the show (2023-25), the full show was aired live on Disney+ before an edited version was shown months later on ABC, but it appears that a live broadcast has been scotched for 2026.

Collins was already a member of the Hall of Fame, as a member of Genesis, but this year marked the first time he was on the ballot as a solo artist. Two other first-timers besides Collins made it in on their first nomination: Vandross and Wu-Tang Clan.

Oasis, Iron Maiden and Joy Division/New Order got voted in on their third try. It was the second time being up for the honor for Sade and Idol.

Notably, Parsons had been nominated three times before — the last time being more than 20 years ago — and Kuti got a nom twice, previously, but neither had been voted in. Their induction now in the Early Influence category represents one of the work-arounds the committee has come up with for artists who have proven time and again that they can’t sway enough voters to get in… and yet who constantly come up on the top of nearly everyone’s “how is it possible they aren’t in?” lists. (Cruz, Queen Latifah and MC Lyte had never been nominated.)

New Edition was the winner of the “fan vote,” which is seen as a growing tally online every year; with that collective vote not counting for much in reality, though, the group failed to earn a spot in the top eight.

With the list of inductees out now, the biggest remaining suspense may be in how Oasis singer Liam Gallagher will take to finally being admitted to the exclusive club, and whether he will be as resistant as he was in past years. In 2024, when Oasis was first nominated, the famously cantankerous vocalist reacted to the news by posting on X: “Fuck the Rock n Roll hall of fame its full of BUMBACLARTS” (sic). Still estranged at that time from his brother, Noel Gallagher, Liam additionally wrote: “The little fella loves hanging out with celebrities so he’d prob go; as for me I’m washing my hair and having a pedicure and a manicure.” With the brothers’ rift now having been repaired for a reunion tour, however, it remains to be seen whether Liam would still want Noel to show up alone.

Some nominees or honorees who are initially resistant eventually come around, like Dolly Parton; and some do not, like famous no-shows John Lydon and Todd Rundgren. (This past year, Chubby Checker declined to come, after long complaining about his exclusion, but did tape an acceptance speech at a gig.)

Perhaps the second most suspenseful question is whether current and former members of New Order will make up to perform at the ceremony. Peter Hook has been estranged from the remaining members of the group, which initially went separate ways in 2007 but then reunited without him in 2011. He sued the other members, and a settlement was reached in 2017. Hook said last year, “Everything is colored by the animosity… I don’t think they’re New Order. They don’t sound like anything like them.” (New Order’s induction is being combined with their earlier band, Joy Division, which went defunct after Ian Curtis died by suicide in 1980.)

Collins would seem like a long shot to perform at the induction; he retired in 2022 due to health issues, and has said he requires 24-hour care. But fans may hope that where there’s a will, there’s a way. Some of the other inductees remain active as performers, including Idol, Iron Maiden and Wu-Tang Clan (even if there are sometimes issues over how many members of the hip-hop collective show up for a tour). A Sade appearance would certainly be a coup for the show’s producers: as a band, Sade last released an album in 2010 and hasn’t toured since 2011.

Ticket information for the October induction ceremony, which will again take place at L.A.’s Peacock Theater, will be announced later. In 2027, the induction will rotate back for a year to Cleveland, home of the hall’s namesake museum.