Liam Gallagher, left, and Noel Gallagher of Oasis appear during their reunion tour (Image: AP)
Oasis are among a record breaking number of British acts to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year, alongside heavy metal legends Iron Maiden, pop songstress Sade, and sneering rocker Billy Idol. The incredible tally means six out of eight inductees are from UK shores. They also include Manchester’s Joy Division and New Order, who are being treated as one act, and Phil Collins, who is being recognised for his solo career having previously been inducted as a member of Genesis in 2010.
In the American award’s 40-year history the previous record for British acts being inducted in a single year was five, when Radiohead, The Cure, Def Leppard, Roxy Music and The Zombies were all honoured in 2019. But as recently as 2021, there were no British inductees at all.
This year’s magnificent half dozen are joined by American soul crooner Luther Vandross and hardcore hip hop band Wu-Tang Clan.
Iron Maiden (Image: Getty Images)
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Sade at Live Aid (Image: Mirrorpix)
Acts become eligible for inclusion 25 years after their first commercial release, and Iron Maiden’s inclusion comes as the band prepare to mark their 50th anniversary this summer with a show at Knebworth Park.
Lead singer Bruce Dickinson has previously blasted the awards as a “complete load of bollocks” and insisted he’d refuse induction if he ever received the call, adding: “It’s run by a bunch of sanctimonious Americans who wouldn’t know rock’n’roll if it hit them in the face.”
He added that they needed “to stop taking Prozac and start drinking beer”.
Oasis frontman Liam Gallager also previously dismissed the Hall of Fame, declaring that he wasn’t interested in receiving an award from “some geriatric in a cowboy hat”.
However, the musician posted on X on Tuesday: “Reverse psychology vibes in the area, Oasis RNR hall of farmers, I mean famers.”
How voting works
The nominees for the Rock & Rock Hall of Fame are chosen by a group of around 40 industry professionals, described as inductees, academics and journalists whose passion, expertise, and livelihood is all about music.
This year there were 17 nominees.
Once this list has been decided, more than 1200 people, including every living inductees are sent a ballot and can vote on which nominees should be inducted.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony will take place on 14 November at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles, where the 2029 Oscars will be held.
Billy Idol (Image: Getty Images)
Iron Maiden’s manager Rod Smallwood was equally conciliatory claiming: “It’s always nice to be recognised and honoured for any achievements within the music industry.”
The 2026 honourees were announced during an episode of ABC’s American Idol, by the presenter Ryan Seacrest and one of the show’s judges Lionel Richie, who was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022 as a solo artists, despite his band The Commodores having never made it in.
Oasis’ induction comes the year after they played their biggest ever US tour, which included selling out two nights at the 90,000 capacity Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena, California.
Although no longer prolific as recording artists, Sade, the band fronted by singer Sade Adu, is more successful in the US than the UK, with their most recent album Soldier of Love a Stateside number one in 2010, selling half a million copies in its first week.
British Pop and Rock musician Phil Collins (Image: Getty Images)
Adu was born in Nigeria but grew up in the UK from the age of four and is the first British black woman to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
The group is best known for hits such as Your Love is King, Smooth Operator and Sweetest Taboo.
Billy Idol, whose hits include White Wedding and the US number one Mony Mony, is also to be inducted, after having been nominated once before.
Unlike Oasis and Iron Maiden, he has spoken about his desire to be included, having told Ultimate Classic Rock: “You really get a chance to thank your fans. That’s what I like about it. You know, you get a chance to really thank everybody who supported you through thick and thin. So that’s an incredible honour.”
NEW YORK – OCTOBER 1989: Influential British rockers New Order (L -R) lead vocalist/guitarist Bernar (Image: Getty Images)
Phil Collins was equally happy posting on Instagram: “Obviously I’m pleased and honoured to be inducted. It wraps up what has been a wonderful life in music.”
The first ever Brits to be inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame were The Beatles in 1988, the first year they were eligible.
George Harrison and Ringo Starr attended the ceremony but Paul McCartney did not, issuing a statement saying: “After 20 years, the Beatles still have some business differences, which I had hoped would have been settled by now. Unfortunately, they haven’t been, so I would feel like a complete hypocrite waving and smiling with them at a fake reunion.”
Joy Division performing live in 1980 (Image: Redferns)
