The 2026 Songwriters Hall Of Fame nominees are out, and it includes some big names, including Taylor Swift. She could make Songwriters Hall of Fame history as the first artist to advance from the Hal David Starlight Award, which she won in 2010, to full membership. Her nomination comes right on schedule, as eligibility requires 20 years since a songwriter’s first release…and Swift’s debut single “Tim McGraw” dropped in June 2006.
The Songwriters Hall of Fame will induct three performing and three non-performing songwriters from its 2026 ballot.
Other nominees include Grammy winners like Kenny Loggins and Christopher “Tricky” Stewart, and Rock & Roll Hall of Famers such as LL Cool J, David Byrne, and members of KISS. Voting closes December 4, with inductees to be announced early next year. Check out all the nominees below, along with examples of the songwriter’s work provided by the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Non-Performing Songwriters
- Walter Afanasieff – “All I Want for Christmas Is You” * “My All” * “Hero” * “Love Will Survive” * “One Sweet Day”
- Pete Bellotte – “Hot Stuff” * “I Feel Love” * “Love To Love You Baby” * “Heaven Knows” * “Push It to the Limit”
- Andreas Carlsson – “I Want It That Way” * “Bye Bye Bye” * “It’s Gonna Be Me” * “That’s The Way It Is” * “Waking Up in Vegas”
- Steve Kipner – “Physical” * “Hard Habit To Break” * “Genie in a Bottle” * “These Words” * “Breakeven”
- Jeffrey LeVasseur p/k/a Jeffrey Steele – “What Hurts the Most” * “My Wish” * “Knee Deep” * “The Cowboy in Me” * “I’d Give Anything/She’d Give Anything”
- Patrick Leonard – “Like a Prayer” * “Live To Tell” * “Nevermind” * “You Want It Darker” * “Yet Another Movie”
- Terry Britten and Graham Lyle – “What’s Love Got To Do With It” * “We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)” * “Typical Male” * “Devil Woman” * “I Should Have Known Better”
- Bob McDill – “Everything That Glitters Is Not Gold” * “Good Ole Boys Like Me” * “Gone Country” * “Don’t Close Your Eyes” * “Song of the South”
- Kenny Nolan – “Lady Marmalade” * “My Eyes Adored You” * “I Like Dreamin’” * “Masterpiece” * “Get Dancin’”
- Martin Page – “We Built This City” * “These Dreams” * “King of Wishful Thinking” * “Faithful” * “Fallen Angel”
- Vini Poncia – “Do I Love You” * “I Was Made for Lovin You” * “Oh My My” * “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” * “Just Too Many People”
- Tom Snow – “He’s So Shy” * “Let’s Hear it for the Boy” * “Dreaming of You” * “Don’t Know Much” * “After All”
- Christopher “Tricky” Stewart – “Umbrella” * “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” * “Obsessed” * “Just Fine” * “Break My Soul”
- Larry Weiss – “Rhinestone Cowboy” * “Bend Me Shape Me” * “Hi Ho Silver Lining” * “Your Baby Doesn’t Love You Anymore” * “Darling Take Me Back”
Performing Songwriters
- Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell (America) – “A Horse With No Name” * “Ventura Highway” * “Sister Golden Hair” * “I Need You”* “Tin Man”
- David Byrne – “Once in a Lifetime” * “Psycho Killer” * “Burning Down the House” * “Naive Melody (This Must Be the Place)” * “Strange Overtones”
- Richard Carpenter – “Goodbye to Love” * “Top of the World” * “Yesterday Once More” * “Only Yesterday” * “Merry Christmas Darling”
- Harry Wayne Casey – “Rock Your Baby” * “Get Down Tonight” * “That’s The Way (I Like It)” * “(Shake Shake Shake) Shake Your Booty” * “Please Don’t Go”
- Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings (The Guess Who) – “These Eyes” * “Laughing” * “No Time” * “American Woman” * “No Sugar Tonight” / “New Mother Nature”
- Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley (KISS) – “Rock and Roll All Nite” * “I Love It Loud” * “Calling Dr. Love” * “Shout It Out Loud” * “Christine Sixteen”
- Kenny Loggins – “Danny’s Song” * “Footloose” * “Celebrate Me Home” * “Return to Pooh Corner” * “What a Fool Believes”
- Sarah McLachlan – “Angel” * “Sweet Surrender” * “I Will Remember You” * “Building a Mystery” * “Adia”
- Alecia B. Moore p/k/a P!nk – “Glitter in the Air” * “Just Like a Pill” * “Raise Your Glass” * “So What” * “What About Us”
- Boz Scaggs – “Lido Shuffle” * “Lowdown” * “We’re All Alone” * “Thanks to You” * “Look What You’ve Done to Me”
- James Todd Smith p/k/a LL Cool J – “Mama Said Knock You Out” * “I Need Love” * “Around the Way Girl” * “Going Back to Cali” * “Illegal Search”
- Taylor Swift – “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)” * “Blank Space” * “Anti-Hero” * “Love Story” * “The Last Great American Dynasty”
- Charlotte Caffey, Kathy Valentine and Jane M. Wiedlin (Go-Go’s) – “We Got the Beat” * “Our Lips Are Sealed” * “Vacation” * “Head Over Heels” * “This Town”
