Rock Hall names Oasis, Sade and Wu-Tang Clan for 2026 induction

Oasis, Sade and Wu-Tang Clan were among eight performers chosen for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s 2026 induction class, a lineup that also included Phil Collins, Billy Idol, Iron Maiden, Joy Division/New Order and Luther Vandross. The Hall announced the selections after fielding a 17-artist nominee list, its largest ever, and said the class reflects how far its definition of rock history now stretches.

The 2026 class underscores that shift. Alongside longtime rock names, the Hall again elevated R&B, hip-hop and metal into its top tier, signaling that the institution’s idea of rock has widened well beyond guitar-driven radio staples. The Hall said 10 of the 17 nominees were first-time candidates, while the final ballot was decided by more than 1,200 artists, historians and music-industry professionals, plus the annual fan vote, which counts as one ballot.

Phil Collins’s selection carries a rare distinction: he had already been inducted as a member of Genesis, making the 2026 honor a second Rock Hall entry for one of pop and rock’s most durable solo hitmakers. Billy Idol, Iron Maiden, Joy Division/New Order, Oasis and Sade had all been nominated before, but had not previously cleared the finish line. Wu-Tang Clan and Luther Vandross joined them in the performer category as first-time nominees in the Hall’s 2026 class.

The ceremony is scheduled for November 14, 2026, in Los Angeles, with a December telecast set for ABC. The Hall’s eligibility rules require that an artist’s first commercial release have come out at least 25 years before induction, a threshold that has allowed the institution to keep folding in acts whose influence now spans generations.

Oasis entered the announcement with an extra layer of scrutiny after Liam Gallagher publicly mocked the Hall during the nomination period, at times downplaying or rejecting the honor. That public resistance only intensified attention on a band whose place in the canon has long been debated and whose songs remain central to Britpop’s legacy. For the Hall, the 2026 class made the case plainly: rock history now includes the artists who defined it, the outsiders who reshaped it, and the genres that forced it to expand.