The Rock Hall has announced its 2026 class of inductees and as usual, it’s a mixed bag. But this year, they did one big thing right: they finally inducted English quartet Joy Division, whose very short lifespan and a mere two albums belied their staggering influence of 80s/90s new wave/post punk/goth. Anywhere you heard a depressed singer bemoaning his hopeless life over dark, mechanic music, you heard echoes of the late (by suicide, of course) Ian Curtis and his cronies. They were inducted in tandem with New Order, the band formed by the other three members after Curtis took his life in 1980 on the verge of what would’ve been the band’s first American tour.
Otherwise, debate away: my favored choice is Iron Maiden, one of the premiere metal bands to emerge in the 1980s. Other inductees include Phil Collins, Billy Idol, Oasis, Sade, Luther Vandross and Wu-Tang Clan.
Weirdness continues to dog the “early influence” category which once had clear boundaries: it was for non-rock performers who predated the rock era but had an influence on rock & roll (Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers, Louis Armstrong, Willie Dixon and Woody Guthrie are examples). This year’s group once again features artists who are by no means “early” influences, but simply part of the slipstream of contemporary popular music, especially MC Lyte and Queen Latifah, whose careers were entirely post-late 1980s. Latifah’s debut album preceded Wu Tang’s by just four years. It seems like they almost toss a coin to decide which category to put certain artists in, perhaps acts they don’t think will pass muster with their voting committee. The other winners this year are Celia Curz, Fela Kuti and Gram Parsons. But there’s still one massive oversight which makes this category an even bigger head-scratcher: Patsy Cline is still not in. They should be ashamed.
Another odd category is the “musical excellence” category which mostly seems to honor behind-the-scenes players, and has included people who aren’t even musicians. This year’s inductees are producers Rick Rubin, Jimmy Miller and Arif Mardin, and songwriter/background vocalist Linda Creed. The Rock Hall is also presenting an “Ahmet Ertegun Award” to the late Ed Sullivan.
While announcing the inductees on American Idol on Monday April 13, the Rock Hall also announced the induction ceremony will be held on November 14 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.