Nigerian-British singer Sade Adu has secured a second nomination for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, as organisers unveiled the 2026 shortlist spanning 17 artistes across genres and generations.
The Hall confirmed that performers become eligible 25 years after the release of their first commercial recording, a rule designed to measure longevity and cultural impact.
This year’s ballot includes a mix of first-time contenders and returning nominees.
This year’s ballot also reflects the Hall’s wide genre lens, stretching from classic rock to hip-hop and contemporary pop.
Nominees include American rock band The Black Crowes; late singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley; pop and R&B powerhouse Mariah Carey; English drummer and frontman Phil Collins; roots-rock singer Melissa Etheridge; genre-defying rapper and vocalist Lauryn Hill; punk-era figure Billy Idol; Australian outfit INXS; heavy metal stalwarts Iron Maiden; post-punk pioneers Joy Division and their successor group New Order; R&B collective New Edition; Britpop band Oasis; pop star P!nk; Colombian global sensation Shakira; late soul great Luther Vandross; and hip-hop collective Wu-Tang Clan.
With a career spanning over four decades, Sade has won 4 Grammy Awards. She won her first Grammy in 1986, winning Best New Artist at a moment when her cool, jazz-inflected sound was reshaping mainstream pop.
Further honours followed: Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for No Ordinary Love in 1994; Best Pop Vocal Album for Lovers Rock in 2002; and another Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for Soldier of Love in 2011.
The nomination marks her second appearance on the Rock Hall ballot, signalling sustained industry recognition of her influence.
Induction into the Hall is determined by a voting body made up of music historians, industry executives and previously inducted artistes, alongside input from fan ballots.
Although this year’s shortlist features other high-profile names from rock and pop, including solo performers and bandleaders whose careers shaped the 1980s and 1990s. Sade’s nomination underscores the Hall’s evolving understanding of “rock and roll” as a broad cultural force rather than a narrow genre label.
Born Helen Folasade Adu in Ibadan and raised in England from the age of four, Sade Adu studied fashion at Saint Martin’s School of Art in London and first found modest recognition as a designer and part-time model before music pulled her in a different direction.
In the early 1980s, she joined the band Pride as a backing vocalist, gradually drawing attention for her poise and distinctive contralto voice. That momentum led to the formation of her own band, Sade, and a recording contract with Epic Records in 1983.
The group’s debut album, Diamond Life released in 1984, became one of the decade’s best-selling records and remains the best-selling debut by a British female vocalist.
As a Nigerian-born artiste who built her career in Britain and achieved massive success in the United States, she represents a form of musical hybridity that prefigured today’s globalised industry.
The final list of 2026 inductees will be announced later in the year.
