Recordings by ASCAP Members Selected for the National Recording Registry in 2026 (chronological order)
“Cocktails for Two” – Spike Jones and His City Slickers (1944) (single)
“Cocktails for Two” was a well-established romantic standard by 1944, making it more than fair game for ASCAP member Spike Jones and His City Slickers to send it up with their full arsenal of cowbells, washboards, shouts, hiccups and raspberries delivered at a breakneck tempo to the languid crooning of vocalist Carl Grayson. By the time the band released the single to the public the last week of 1944, “Cocktails for Two” had been in their repertoire for nearly a year and was a staple of the band’s performance sets, including national radio broadcasts. The release was held up by the American Federation of Musicians’ strike against U.S. record labels begun in 1942. By the time the band’s record label, RCA Victor, settled in November 1944, public demand for “Cocktails for Two” guaranteed that it would be one of the numbers Jones and company would record at their first post-strike recording session and release post-haste. It became one of 1945’s biggest hits and a signature song for Jones and company.
“In Other Words (Fly Me to the Moon)” – Kaye Ballard (1954) (single)
In early 1954, 29-year-old ASCAP singer & songwriter Kaye Ballard was a seasoned performer well known to audiences at New York’s Blue Angel cabaret, but she was hardly a household name. Described by columnist Dorothy Kilgallen as “a gracefully gawky comedienne,” her resumé included a stint with Spike Jones and His City Slickers as a singer, dancer, flautist and tuba player. In 1954, she was cast in the off-Broadway musical “The Golden Apple,” a madcap take on the legend of Ulysses and Helen of Troy, set in the circa 1900 apple country of Washington state. Ballard played Helen as a small-town vamp, and her featured song was the sultry “Lazy Afternoon.” “Apple” was a hit and proved to be Ballard’s popular breakthrough. On April 2, 1954, only three weeks after the show’s premiere, she recorded “Lazy Afternoon” as a single for the Decca label. For the flipside, she chose “In Other Words,” written by Blue Angel pianist and emcee Bart Howard. Over the years, the song has been recorded by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Mabel Mercer, Peggy Lee, Johnny Mathis and Bobby Womack, and has been retitled “Fly Me to the Moon,” the opening line of the song. Throughout the rest of her long career, Ballard rarely sang anything so openly romantic, but her performance of this classic song still stands apart for the depth, warmth and wonder that she brought to it.
“Feliz Navidad” – José Feliciano (1970) (single)
One of the few true holiday standards that does not have its origins in Tin Pan Alley or older European traditions, José Feliciano’s “Feliz Navidad” has even bridged any perceived limitations of its primary language to be embraced by music lovers and Christmas enthusiasts worldwide. The Puerto Rican-born ASCAP musician José Feliciano burst onto the scene in 1962 and soon gained attention for his vibrant guitar playing and impassioned vocals. In 1970, ready to release a holiday album, Feliciano composed “Feliz Navidad” to kick off his collection of yuletide favorites. Said to be having a nostalgic moment and thinking of his island homeland at the time, Feliciano then crafted this beloved bilingual standard. Today, it stands not only as Feliciano’s most famous song out of his already impressive body of work, but also as an undisputed holiday classic.
José Feliciano Thanks Fans for Listening
Upon hearing of the selection of “Feliz Navidad” for the National Recording Registry, José Feliciano wanted to thank his fans.
“All my life I’ve just wanted to share my music, making others happy, and so I feel blessed that for over 60 years, I’ve been able to do exactly that, around the world. But then unexpectedly it was “Feliz Navidad,” my little carol, that came along to capture their hearts, year after year!” Feliciano said. “The honor of being added into the Library of Congress National Recording Registry is beyond anything I could've dreamt of, and so, from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you and everyone who listens to my music. I sincerely love you all.”
“Midnight Train to Georgia” – Gladys Knight and the Pips (1973) (single)
ASCAP legend Gladys Knight, often called the “Empress of Soul,” along with her amazing, renowned backup singing Pips, achieved their first number one with this now-classic song: a skillful blend of soul, rhythm and blues, gospel and country-style storytelling. The song, written by Jim Weatherly, has been described as having a slow and deliberate groove, a track upon which the song’s story rides. The song is a journey, as it moves through a variety of issues of great emotional complexity – economic uncertainty, race, upward mobility and the power of personal choice – while never losing its soul and still supplying ample space for the incomparable vocals of the Empress. Since its release and success with a large, crossover audience, the song has become a fixture of both film and television.
Beauty and the Beat – The Go-Go’s (1981) (album)
Formed in Los Angeles in the late 1970s and signed by I.R.S. Records in 1981, ASCAP band The Go-Go’s have the historic distinction of being the most enduring group to emerge from the West Coast new wave scene of the era and one of the cornerstones of that genre. Their debut album Beauty and the Beat, bolstered by two mega-successful singles – both bright, effervescent and guitar-driven “Our Lips are Sealed” and “We Got the Beat” – sold over 2 million copies, and their album held its place at No. 1 on the charts for six weeks. The Go-Go’s remain one of the most successful all-female rock groups of all time, and their success as an all-woman band, composing their own material and playing all their instruments, laid the groundwork for future women-led bands like the Bangles, Sleater-Kinney, Haim, Paramore and those associated with the Riot Grrrl movement.
Members of The Go-Go’s Respond to Selection
Band members from The Go-Go’s, one of the most successful all-female rock bands of all time, said it was an honor to have their work preserved for all time.
“I feel extremely honored to be part of the American artists that are a part of the Library of Congress,” singer and songwriter Belinda Carlisle told the Library. “It’ll be great 100 years from now when someone is doing their research and they see The Go-Go’s in there. I would love that 100 years from now looking back and seeing how the personality of the band that was so important and the music was so important at that time.”
Singer and songwriter Jane Wiedlin recalled how the band blazed new trails for women in music.
“I don’t know that there is a better feeling than knowing that women are raising their daughters and playing them The Go-Go’s. As far as The Go-Go’s legacy, the biggest accomplishment is that we broke the glass ceiling,” Wiedlin told the Library. “I get in a lot of arguments over this, but there is literally no other all-female band that went No. 1 on the charts, play their own instruments and write their own songs. None. That becomes more and more important as time goes on. The idea that it continues on through generations is just astounding.”
Texas Flood – Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble (1983) (album)
The bulk of Texas Flood was recorded during a three-day session in which ASCAP singer/guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan, drummer Chris Layton and bassist Tommy Shannon faced each other and played as if they were live. The strategy leveraged skills the group had honed playing nightly in Austin’s burgeoning blues scene where Vaughan had become known as a hotshot guitarist with the feel of blues great Albert King and the uncanny dexterity of Jimi Hendrix. The album’s slower tunes, like “Texas Flood” and “Lenny,” showcase the guitarist’s inimitable, beefy tone which relied in part on the use of very heavy strings and on precise amp and guitar settings known only to Vaughan. Other songs pay tribute to Hendrix (“Testify”), Buddy Guy (“Mary Had a Little Lamb”), and Howlin’ Wolf (“Tell Me”). The power, precise articulation, and ensemble playing of the album’s speediest tune, “Rude Mood,” must be heard to be believed.
“I Feel for You” – Chaka Khan (1984) (single)
The great ASCAP vocalist & songwriter Chaka Khan – already a luminary for her work with the funk band Rufus and as a solo artist – truly stood out with this 1984 release which, to many, fully captured the cultural moment when rhythm and blues, funk, pop and early hip-hop completely converged. Written by the multi-talented Prince – who recorded the song himself in 1979 – Khan and her cohorts reimagined it and the result was a massive crossover hit. “I Feel for You” stands solidly with such other early hip-hop classics as “Rapper’s Delight” and “La Di Da Di” in its role as an envoy for bringing a hip-hop vocabulary to the mainstream. And though Grandmaster Melle Mel handles the rap duties, the focus of the song remains, in true icon fashion, on Khan, a vocalist that Aretha Franklin once labeled “one of a kind.” The endurance of “I Feel for You” is further enhanced by the clever repetition/reverb of Khan’s own name used as an opening salvo, now too a permanent fixture of the popular culture.
Chaka Khan Reimagined Prince’s ‘I Feel for You’ and Made a Hit
While Prince wrote the song “I Feel for You” and recorded it himself in 1979, Chaka Khan and her cohorts reimagined it, and the result was a massive crossover hit.
“'I Feel for You’ was a moment where everything converged, Prince’s genius, Stevie’s harmonica, Grandmaster Melle Mel’s rap, and whatever God put in me that day,” Khan said. “For the Library of Congress to say this recording belongs in the permanent collection of American sound heritage, that means it wasn’t just a hit, it was history. And I am so very grateful to have been part of it.”
“Your Love” – Jamie Principle (1986) / Jamie Principle/Frankie Knuckles (1987) (singles)
An influential recording in the worlds of electronica and modern club culture, the inescapable dance track “Your Love” began its journey to the dance floor in 1982 from the creative energies of Chicago songwriter, composer and producer Jamie Principle. After being passed around on reel-to-reel tapes and audio cassettes, “Your Love” was published on the Persona label in 1986 with a mix by Principle and DJ Louie Gomez. Reworked by Principle's fellow ASCAP member Frankie Knuckles in 1987, this explosive and widely recognized version incorporates additional musical effects and vocal contributions of Adrienne Jett, while still honoring the essence of the original remix. The song’s enduring legacy underscores its importance as a cultural artifact and a groundbreaking work in the history of house music and electronica.
Rumor Has It – Reba McEntire (1990) (album)
Thirteen years into her remarkable, Country Music Hall of Fame career, ASCAP singer-songwriter Reba McEntire released this album, an offering that critics frequently cite as both an artistic and commercial peak, a work where her interpretive storytelling, vocal control and thematic boldness fully converged. The album marked McEntire’s first collaboration with country music producing legend Tony Brown. Aided by their mutual gift for outstanding song selection, they crafted a recording that yielded four successful singles, which included the title track and the songs “You Lie,” “Fallin’ Out of Love” and “Fancy.” “Fancy” was a reworking of the classic Bobbie Gentry song whose updated success was emboldened by the powerful and cinematic music video McEntire released with the song. Today, the song is associated with McEntire nearly as much as it is with its composer. The album would achieve multi-platinum status and serve as a rebirth for McEntire as it so successfully blended both her heart-felt country roots and theatrical abilities.
Weezer (The Blue Album) – Weezer (1994) (album)
Weezer's self-titled debut, known as The Blue Album, was released in 1994 at the height of grunge. With contributions from ASCAP member Brian Bell (who joined Weezer during the recording sessions), the album broke through the angst-filled sounds of alternative rock and presented a new nerdy geek-rock charm. Featuring such iconic hits as “Buddy Holly,” “Say It Ain't So” and “Undone – The Sweater Song,” the album is an enduring, essential classic of the alternative rock age. Weezer continues to have critical and commercial success and a dedicated multi-generational fanbase. As of 2026, Weezer (The Blue Album) remains their best-selling album, having been certified triple-platinum.
“Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” – Beyoncé (2008) (single)
Only a true icon already known by three names – Beyoncé a.k.a. Queen Bey a.k.a. Sasha Fierce – can create a song that spawned a million plays, a whole new catchphrase and its own dance craze all at the same time. A standout single from Beyoncé’s already hit-packed album, I Am…Sasha Fierce (which also contains the songs “Halo” and “If I Were a Boy”), “Single Ladies,” along with its now epochal music video, became the cultural moment of 2008 and most of ’09 as well. Beyoncé’s blockbuster found itself embraced by all generations and fans of almost every musical style.
1989 – Taylor Swift (2014) (album)
In 2014, Taylor Swift was already one of the most important, influential artists in popular music throughout the world when she released 1989, her fifth studio album. This work took its title from the year she was born, signifying to her a time of rebirth, not only for herself in the musical mainstream, but also when she felt she had reached her own musical maturity. Always a prolific songwriter, Swift began writing the songs for this album while on tour with her previous release, Red, and enlisted several ASCAP greats (Max Martin, Shellback, Ali Payami, Jack Antonoff and Imogen Heap) for songwriting and/or production magic. As she does so well, Swift used the songs in “1989” to examine matters of the heart. Seven singles, including the perennial favorite “Shake It Off,” were released from this phenomenally successful album.
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The public can submit nominations throughout the year on the Library’s website. Nominations for next year will be accepted until Oct. 1, 2026. The public may nominate recordings for the registry here.
