Taylor Swift in the Library of Congress archives

New entries in the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress, the archive that preserves recordings considered to be of particular cultural, historical or aesthetic relevance for the American sound heritage.
Selected recordings for 2026 include Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It),” Taylor Swift’s “1989” album, Weezer’s self-titled debut, Chaka Khan’s version of “I Feel For You,” The Go-Go’s “Beauty and the Beat,” Jamie Principle and Frankie Knuckles’ “Your Love” and Gladys Knight & the Pips.

Every year the Library of Congress selects recordings defined as “audio treasures worthy of being preserved forever”, based on their impact on the history of American music and culture. The acting head of the Library of Congress, Robert R. Newlen, presented the new selection as a collection of “sounds that defined history.”

Among the comments of the protagonists, Belinda Carlisle underlined the historical value of the inclusion of the Go-Go’s in the archive, while Chaka Khan defined the recognition as confirmation that that recording “was not just a hit, but history”.

This is the complete list of new additions:

Spike Jones and His City Slickers: “Cocktails for Two” (1944)
Pérez Prado and His Orchestra: “Mambo No. 5” (1950)
Ruth Brown: “Teardrops From My Eyes” (1950)
Kaye Ballard: “Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words)” (1954)
Paul Anka: “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” (1959)
Oliver Nelson: The Blues and the Abstract Truth (1961)
Ray Charles: Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music (1962)
The Byrds: “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)” (1965)
The Winstons: “Amen, Brother” (1969)
José Feliciano: “Feliz Navidad” (1970)
“The Fight of the Century: Ali vs. Frazier” (March 8, 1971)
Gladys Knight and the Pips: “Midnight Train to Georgia” (1973)
Chicago Original Cast Album (1975)
The Charlie Daniels Band: “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” (1979)
The Go-Go’s: Beauty and the Beat (1981)
Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble: Texas Flood (1983)
Chaka Khan: “I Feel for You” (1984)
Jamie Principle: “Your Love” (1986) / Jamie Principle and Frankie Knuckles (1987)
Reba McEntire: Rumor Has It (1990)
Rosanne Cash: The Wheel (1993)
Bobby Prince: Doom Soundtrack (1993)
Vince Gill: “Go Rest High on That Mountain” (1994)
Weezer: Weezer (The Blue Album) (1994)
Beyoncé: “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” (2008)
Taylor Swift: “1989” (2014)