Lady Gaga, Shakira, P!nk and Blondie are on the 2027 Songwriters Hall of Fame ballot

The Songwriters Hall of Fame has named the people it wants its voters to consider for the class of 2027, and the ballot reads like a tour of four decades of pop. Lady Gaga, P!nk, Shakira, Sia and Ne-Yo sit alongside Blondie, Boy George and Jack White, with the hit factories behind them in the other column.

The nominees were announced on the Hall's own site on 5 November 2026. The Hall is based in New York, and its induction gala is held in the city each year.

The performing songwriters

This category is for artists who write and perform their own songs. This year's 13 nominees:

• Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell of America
• Debbie Harry and Chris Stein of Blondie
• Boy George
• Vince Gill
• Grandmaster Melle Mel
• Lady Gaga
• Ne-Yo
• P!nk
• Shakira
• Sia
• the members of WAR
• Jack White
• Frank Beard, Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill of ZZ Top

Grandmaster Melle Mel is the hip-hop name on the list, a pioneering rapper from the genre's earliest records.

The songwriters

The second category is for writers best known for the songs rather than the stage. The 13 nominees:

• Pete Bellotte
• George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam of Boy Meets Girl
• Kandi Burruss
• Andreas Carlsson
• Tom Douglas
• Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein and Richard Gottehrer
• Bob McDill
• Mikkel Eriksen and Tor Hermansen, who work as Stargate
• Maurice Starr
• Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman, the Stock Aitken Waterman team
• William Adams, better known as will.i.am
• Dan Wilson
• Toni Wine

Feldman, Goldstein and Gottehrer are listed as a trio on the Hall's page, and Feldman is deceased.

How the vote works

Eligible voting members can choose up to three nominees in each category. Ballots close at midnight Eastern time on 14 December 2026. A writer qualifies once 20 years have passed since the first commercial release of one of their songs, and they need a catalogue of notable songs behind them.

The Hall's page does not give a date for the gala or say when the final inductees will be revealed, so we will update this story when it does.

For readers outside the US: the Songwriters Hall of Fame is separate from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It honours the writing, not the performing, which is why producers and behind-the-scenes hitmakers such as Stargate and Stock Aitken Waterman can share a ballot with Lady Gaga.