Shania Twain is set to host the Academy of Country Music Awards for the first time. The 61st ACM Awards will stream live on Prime Video on Sunday, May 17 at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT / 5 p.m. PT from MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“I’m thrilled to be hosting the 61st ACM Awards in Las Vegas, a place that feels like home,” Twain said in a statement. “It’s such an honor to be part of this incredible night celebrating Country Music’s biggest stars, especially with so many talented women leading nominations this year. I can’t wait to welcome all of the fans and artists out for this unforgettable night.”
“We are honored to welcome global music superstar Shania Twain as our host this year,” ACM CEO Damon Whiteside said. “We couldn’t imagine a more perfect icon to follow our previous iconic hosts, Dolly, Garth, and Reba, blending one of the most important nights in Country Music with the excitement of Las Vegas.” (Editor’s Note: Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks co-hosted the 2023 ACM Awards. Reba McEntire hosted the last two years.)
While this is Twain’s first time hosting the ACM Awards, she hosted the People’s Choice Country Awards in September 2024. That was the second and apparently final installment of that show, which aired on NBC and streamed on Peacock.
Twain is a three-time winner at the ACM Awards. In 1996, she won both top new female vocalist and album of the year for The Woman in Me. Four years later, she won entertainer of the year. In addition, in 2023, she received an honorary award, the Poet’s Award, in recognition of her songwriting career.
Twain has had six top 10 albums on the Billboard 200, including a pair of No. 1 albums, Up! and Now. She has had three top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 – “You’re Still the One,” “From This Moment On” and “That Don’t Impress Me Much.” Twain, a native of Canada, is also a five-time Grammy Award winner.
Twain’s selection as host was considered a surprise. McEntire has hosted or co-hosted the ACM Awards 18 times and is just one show away from tying Bob Hope‘s record as the most-frequent host of any major awards show. Hope hosted or co-hosted the Oscars 19 times between 1940 and 1978.
This is the second time in two weeks that ACM Awards executive producer and showrunner Raj Kapoor has confounded expectations with his choice of a host. On April 9, P!nk, who has yet to appear on Broadway (but is a theater fan) was announced as host of the 2026 Tony Awards, another of the many shows Kapoor is overseeing.
Returning to the Sunday night timeslot, the ACM Awards will feature performances by Cody Johnson, Kacey Musgraves, Lainey Wilson, Little Big Town, Miranda Lambert, and Riley Green, with more to be announced in the coming weeks.
Tickets for the 61st ACM Awards and ACM Awards week events are available for purchase on AXS.com.
Established in 1966, the Academy of Country Music Awards is the longest-running country music awards show. The show made history in 2022 as the first major awards ceremony to exclusively livestream, in collaboration with Prime Video. Fans will also be able to watch this year’s show on the Amazon Music channel on Twitch, as well as in the Amazon Music app.
The 61st Academy of Country Music Awards is produced by Dick Clark Productions (DCP). Kapoor and Patrick Menton are executive producers, with Kapoor also serving as showrunner. Damon Whiteside serves as executive producer for the Academy of Country Music, and Jay Penske and Barry Adelman serve as executive producers for DCP. John Saade will also continue to serve as consulting producer for Amazon MGM Studios.
The ACM Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge Industries and Billboard parent company Penske Media.
CBS announced its programming slate for the new television season, including the dates of two awards shows.
The MTV Video Music Awards returns to simulcast on CBS and MTV for the second straight year, live from Los Angeles on Sunday, Sept. 27. The show will air live on both coasts (8-10 p.m. ET/5-7 p.m. PT). This will mark the first time the VMAs have been held in the Los Angeles area since 2017, when Katy Perry hosted the show at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif. Last year’s show, hosted by LL Cool J, was held at UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y.
Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards will simulcast live on CBS and Nickelodeon for the first time on Saturday, Nov. 14. The 90-minute slime session will air from 8-9:30 p.m. ET/PT. Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards will celebrate young fans’ favorites from across film, television, music, sports and more. The special, produced by Done and Dusted, will simulcast live from Los Angeles. The Nov. 14 date is several months later in the year than usual. Last year’s show, with Tyla hosting, aired from Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif. on June 21, 2015. The Kids Choice Awards, which originated in 1993, has been held in the Los Angeles area all but three times. It was held in New York City in 1987 and 1996 and in Orlando, Florida in 1994.
CBS also reiterated the dates of several other awards shows that had already been announced. All three will air live on both coasts; all three will be solo-hosted by top female personalities.
- The 52nd American Music Awards (AMAs), hosted by Queen Latifah, will air on Monday, May 25 (8:00-11:00 p.m. ET/5:00-8:00 p.m. PT)
- The 79th annual Tony Awards, hosted by P!NK, will air on Sunday, June 7 (8:00-11:00 p.m. ET/5:00-8:00 p.m. PT)
- The 84th annual Golden Globes, hosted by Nikki Glaser, will air on Sunday, Jan. 10, 2027 (8:00-11:00 p.m. ET/5:00-8:00 p.m., PT).
Hell could freeze over, pigs could fly. But it’s induction into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame that might just be enough for Peter Hook to bury the hatchet with his old band, New Order.
The beloved ‘80s electronic rock-pop band, and its new wave predecessor Joy Division, was this week announced to the Rock Hall class of 2026. It was a case of third time’s a charm for the iconic British group, which had been nominated in 2023 and again in 2025.
Hook, along with Bernard Sumner, drummer Stephen Morris and keyboardist Gillian Gilbert, is a founding member of New Order, which emerged in 1980 following the death of Joy Division’s Ian Curtis.
In 2007, after a long run of hits, New Order would split. The group reunited in 2011, though Hook was not part of the lineup, instead continuing with his band Peter Hook & The Light. What came next was a very public falling out with his former bandmates, one that culminated in a legal battle over lost royalties, which would eventually be settled in 2017.
When the names of Joy Division and New Order were finally called out for Rock Hall induction, Hook couldn’t have been happier. “I am so happy about being accepted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame you would not believe it! It’s such a compliment to all the fans of Joy Division and New Order and now it’s been confirmed.” He also paid thanks to the late trio of Ian Curtis, Factory Records chief Tony Wilson, and band manager Rob Gretton and Tony Wilson, whose “inspiration and hard work has meant everything to me.”
The Manchester legends join fellow Brits Phil Collins, Billy Idol, Iron Maiden, Oasis and Sade in the latest round of Rock Hall inductees, alongside R&B great Luther Vandross, and culture-shifting hip-hop collective Wu-Tang Clan.
Induction is long-overdue for New Order, which boasts two U.K. No. 1 albums with 1989’s Technique and 1993’s Republic, and their anthem for England’s 1990 FIFA World Cup efforts, “World in Motion,” topped the singles chart. In the United States, six New Order singles have impacted the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and nine titles have crashed the Billboard 200. Their influence and sound, a dynamite combination of catchy pop songs with live instruments, future-fitted for dancefloors, goes far beyond chart positions.
New Order posted a slide on their social pages, celebrating their Rock Hall moment.
The 2026 induction ceremony will take place Nov. 14 in Los Angeles, to be aired on ABC and Disney+ in December. With his message, Hook gave the strongest of hints that New Order could get the old band back together for the big occasion. “I will be delighted to be inducted and am looking forward to the night so much! See you there,” he writes.
Peter Hook & The Light will return to North America this August and September for a 22-date tour, performing the 2001 New Order album Get Ready in its entirety, along with the “most seminal” cuts from the Joy Division and New Order catalogues.
New Order’s tenth and latest studio album, Music Complete, was released in September 2015. The group toured through 2025.
INXS is this year’s recipient of the Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music.
The prestigious honor will be presented at the 2026 APRA Music Awards, set for Wednesday, April 29 at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion.
With over 75 million albums sold worldwide, and a slew of international awards from their peers and fans, INXS is one of the most popular bands to emerge from the land Down Under.
They’re “not just part of Australia’s musical history,” reads a statement from APRA AMCOS, “they helped write the global playbook.”
Formed back in 1977, INXS would go on to climb rock’s highest summit, a stadium act whose posters were attached to teenagers’ walls everywhere. The sextet of Andrew (keyboards), Jon (drums), and Tim Farriss (lead guitar), along with Garry Beers, Kirk Pengilly (guitar/sax), and the late, legendary frontman Michael Hutchence, landed five top 20 albums on the Billboard 200, and a No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with Kick’s “Need You Tonight.”
In the United Kingdom, the band scored six top 10 albums, including a No. 1 with Welcome To Wherever You Are from 1992, plus a BRIT Award in 1991 for best international group.
“INXS are truly one-of-a-kind,” remarks Jenny Morris, chair of APRA. “Performing with them in the 1980s, at Wembley Stadium opening for Queen to the Listen Like Thieves tour across Europe, North America and Latin America, I saw firsthand the love and adoration they generated. From their compelling and timeless songwriting to their intoxicating performances, few bands have ever left people happily gasping for more the way INXS do.”
Hutchence, who passed in 1997, aged 37, “is as much of a presence in our lives today as the day we lost him,” Morris continues, “and of course the same goes for the band. The legacy of INXS lives on. They remain as relevant as ever, continuing to inspire new generations and bring that unmistakable Aussie spirit to fans around the world.”
INXS called it a day in 2012, with a collection that includes six APRA Music Awards, six ARIA Awards, induction into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2001, and a bank of hits, including “Don’t Change”, “Original Sin,” “Mystify” and “What You Need.”
The group’s music lives on through shrewd syncs and multi-media projects, from Super Bowl to Toy Story 5, and through tireless support from superfans. The classic 1987 song “Never Tear Us Apart” came in at No. 1 on triple j’s inaugural poll of the greatest Australian songs of all-time, counted down last July.
The Ted Albert Award is one of the Australian music industry’s highest decorations, and is decided by the APRA board of writer and publisher directors.
Previous recipients include the late Mushroom Group chairman Michael Gudinski, Paul Kelly, The Seekers, Cold Chisel, former Alberts CEO Fifa Riccobono, Colin Hay of Men at Work and last year’s recipient, Kylie Minogue.
On the night of the 2026 APRAs, guests will be treated to a series of special performances, including a tribute to INXS, a “landmark occasion” that celebrates 100 years of APRA. Confirmed performers include BARKAA, BOY SODA, Ecca Vandal, Ngulmiya, Playlunch, Rob Ruha and more.
The Ted Albert nod will be a bonus for INXS, which was nominated for the 2026 Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, but whose name wasn’t called on Tuesday. Another opportunity awaits for the Rock Hall next year, when the band turns 50.
As previously reported, Amyl And The Sniffers, Tame Impala spearhead Kevin Parker, first-time shortlisters Keli Holiday and Ninajirachi, plus Paul Kelly with his nephew and first-time nominee Dan Kelly, are in the hunt for APRA’s song of the year, the top honor at the annual APRA Music Awards.
The APRAs this year counts 52 first-time nominees, seven of whom are up for two awards.
For more information on the APRAs, visit apraamcos.com.au/apramusicawards2026,
The eight artists who were voted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in the performers category probably haven’t gotten much accomplished today. They’ve been too busy receiving well-wishes from friends and supporters.
The nine artists who were passed over in the voting have also likely been hearing from friends and supporters, but the conversations have been along the lines of “you were robbed” or, perhaps, “don’t worry, you’ll get in eventually.”
As you probably know by now, this year’s inductees in the performers category are Phil Collins, Billy Idol, Iron Maiden, Joy Division/New Order, Oasis, Sade, Wu-Tang Clan and one solo artist who received the honor posthumously: Luther Vandross.
The artists who were passed over are The Black Crowes, Mariah Carey, Melissa Etheridge, Lauryn Hill, INXS, New Edition, P!nk and Shakira, and, here too, one solo artist who vied for the honor posthumously, Jeff Buckley.
The 2026 induction ceremony will take place Nov. 14 in Los Angeles, to be aired on ABC and Disney+ in December.
This was the third year in a row that Carey was passed over and the second year in a row that The Black Crowes came up short. Of course, that doesn’t mean they’ll never make it. Idol was passed over in last year’s voting before making it this time. Three of this year’s inductees – Iron Maiden, Joy Division/New Order and Oasis – had been passed over twice previously.
Carey also stands out because of her phenomenal track record, which includes 19 No. 1 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 and six No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200. P!nk has had four No. 1 hits and three No. 1 albums on those same charts. Hill has had one of each. The Black Crowes and New Edition have each had one No. 1 album; Shakira and INXS have each had one No. 1 single.
You could also consider these artists’ track records at awards shows. Hill has won eight Grammys. Carey has won five; Shakira, four; P!nk, three; and Etheridge, two. Etheridge also won an Oscar for “I Need to Wake Up” from An Inconvenient Truth, a documentary about climate change.
Or you could take into account that New Edition won the fan vote but failed to make the Class of 2026.
You can make your call based on whatever criteria you choose. But let us know what you think. Vote!
When the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s 2026 class was announced on Monday (April 13), few paid much attention to the fact that six women were among those honored. Sade Adu (Sade) and Gillian Gilbert (New Order) were both selected in the performers category, while Celia Cruz, Queen Latifah and MC Lyte were chosen to receive the early influence award and Linda Creed was tabbed to receive the musical excellence award.
That’s how the Rock Hall has rolled for several years now. Each of the last five induction classes has included at least four women (or groups featuring women) across the various induction categories.
It was not ever thus. When the inaugural class was inducted in 1986, all 10 performer honorees were men: Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and Elvis Presley.
The Rock Hall could have brought in some gender diversity that year with its other selections, but they too were all men. The inaugural early influence (now called musical influence) honorees were Jimmie Rodgers, Jimmy Yancey and Robert Johnson. The inaugural non-performer selections (now called Ahmet Ertegun Award) were Alan Freed, John Hammond and Sam Phillips.
There were likewise no women in the induction classes of 1992, 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2016. John Sykes, chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, has made diversifying the roster of inductees along gender, genre and racial lines a priority. As such, it’s likely we’ll never see another all-male induction class.
In honor of this year’s gender-diverse class of nominees, here are 19 women who have made history at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Taylor Swift — the top winner in the history of the American Music Awards, with 40 trophies — leads the nominations for the 2026 AMAs with eight nods. Morgan Wallen, Olivia Dean, Sabrina Carpenter and sombr are runners-up with seven nods. Alex Warren and Lady Gaga each received six nods.
With eight nods, Swift is likely to pull even further ahead of the pack for most AMA wins. Michael Jackson is currently in second place with 24 wins, followed by Alabama with 23 and Whitney Houston with 21.
Justin Bieber, who has four nominations this year, is also in position to move up the all-time AMA leaderboard. He has won 18 awards. If he wins just one award this year, he’ll tie Kenny Rogers for the second-most wins among male artists. (MJ leads among men.)
Dean and sombr are competing in three categories — new artist of the year, song of the year, and breakthrough album of the year. The two fast-rising stars competed for best new artist at this year’s Grammys, with Dean winning. Other first-time AMA nominees include Warren, BigXthaPlug, KATSEYE, Leon Thomas, PinkPantheress, RAYE, Role Model, Sienna Spiro and Tate McRae.
Teyana Taylor is a first-time AMA nominee this year for best female R&B artist. She is on a serious awards roll this year. She received an Oscar nomination (and Golden Globe win) for best supporting actress for One Battle After Another, a Grammy nod for best R&B album for Escape Room, and will be honored at Billboard Women in Music 2026 later this month with the Visionary Award.
Also crossing over from the big screen, the singing voices of HUNTR/X (EJAE, Audrey Nuna and REI AMI) are nominated in three categories — song of the year, best vocal performance, and best pop song — for their megahit “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters. The trio will also be honored at Billboard Women in Music, as our Women of the Year.
The 52nd American Music Awards are set to kick off summer with host Queen Latifah live from MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, the largest venue in the show’s history, on Memorial Day (Monday, May 25). The show will air on CBS and stream on Paramount+.
Fan voting is now open via VoteAMAs.com and the @AMAs Instagram profile in all award categories. Voting closes Friday, May 8, at 11:59 a.m. PT, with the exception of social song of the year and tour of the year, which will remain open through the first 30 minutes of the AMAs broadcast.
The 52nd American Music Awards nominees are based on key fan interactions, including streaming, album and song sales, radio airplay and tour grosses. These measurements are tracked by Billboard and Luminate, and cover the data tracking eligibility period of March 21, 2025 through March 26, 2026.
The American Music Awards, the world’s largest fan-voted award show, was created by legendary producer Dick Clark and first awarded in 1974. Tickets are now available on AXS.
Here’s the complete list of nominees for the 2026 American Music Awards, with nominees in each category listed in alphabetical order by first name. We also have two bonuses for you – a list of all artists with three or more nominations this year and a list of top AMA winners of all time (1974–2025).
The American Music Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge Industries and Billboard parent company Penske Media.
The second time proved to be the charm for Billy Idol at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame — and he couldn’t be happier about it.
The veteran punk/New Wave icon – who turned a sneer into a signature style and notched four top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including one chart-topper — is one of eight acts to be inducted in the performers category at the Rock Hall’s annual induction ceremony, taking place Nov. 14 in Los Angeles. Idol performed as part of Ozzy Osbourne’s induction as a solo artist during the 2024 event in Cleveland and was nominated for the first time last year.
“It’s really exciting,” Idol tells Billboard via Zoom from his home in Los Angeles. He and guitarist Steve Stevens, who will be inducted alongside Idol, performed “Rebel Yell” as part of Monday (April 13) night’s American Idol episode that revealed the inductees. “I can’t believe it. It’s incredible. It’s just fantastic to think that something I was doing for the sheer love of the scene we were in back in the ‘70s, the punk rock scene. We were doing it for the love. We had no idea it was going to explode and lead to me doing this for 50 years. So it’s all really incredible and something I just couldn’t have imagined when I was starting out.”
Idol, who learned of the induction a few days before the announcement, adds that he “got quite emotional just telling Steve Stevens a few minutes ago.” And having to wait a year from his first nomination only makes getting in that much sweeter.
“Certainly being part of Ozzy’s induction…that really showed me what the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is about, really,” he explains. “It’s about other artists joining together, and you’re getting respect from your peers, which is really pretty incredible. So many of my heroes, going back to the ‘50s — Bo Diddley and Elvis (Presley) and Buddy Holly, Little Richard, even Eddie Cochran…. That’s pretty incredible that other people think you should be in something like this.
“It’s just been fantastic, being part of this musical revolution we really believed in and to be pushing the culture along. It’s been really fun, and a dream come true. And then this is just icing on the cake, just … wow, what an honor! I almost can’t put it into words. To be able to have your peers vote you in and that, it’s pretty special.”
Idol received 601,000 votes on this year’s Rock Hall fan ballot, more than twice as many as he got in 2025. “That’s the other thing,” he notes. “You get a chance to really thank your fans in person. That’s really special. They helped to put you where you are, stuck with you through thick and thin. Just to get a chance to really thank them is a fantastic moment. I’m looking forward to it, really.”
Idol hasn’t given much thought yet to what November ceremony will entail but says “we’re in a really good place to perform” there. He was on the road last year to support his 2025 album Dream Into It and will head out again in July, with U.S. dates running into late September as well as a five-night residency at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas starting Aug. 28. The documentary film Billy Idol Should Be Dead, meanwhile, is streaming on Hulu.
“We’re on a roll now,” he says, “my band and I and Steve, so I know we’re gonna bring it, bring out the whole thing — the whole attitude and everything. It’s a perfect moment for us to be inducted. We are still at the top of my game.”
In addition, Idol says he’s planning to start working on his next album in June, hoping for release in 2027 but acknowledging that “you never really know how long it’s gonna take you before you start.” Nevertheless, Idol adds that “there’s a bit of a direction we might go in. The last album was very rock ‘n’ roll; I think we’re going to put an element of dance back into this next album. But you never know where it’s going. You plan, but there’s a lot of things you just have to find out when you’re doing it and start seeing songs and see what you have.”
It’s been a good week for the Ed Sullivan estate and those associated with it.
Within a six-day period, the 2025 Netflix documentary Sunday Best: The Untold Story of Ed Sullivan received nominations for Emmy and Peabody Awards, and on Monday (April 13) night, it was revealed that the legendary late TV host will receive the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame‘s 2026 Ahmet Ertegun Award for non-performers, making him one of a handful of broadcasters to be so honored.
The ceremony takes place Nov. 14 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
“We’re thrilled,” Margo Precht-Speciale, Sullivan’s granddaughter and producer of Sunday Best, tells Billboard via Zoom along with Andrew and Josh Solt, whose SOFA Entertainment Inc. acquired rights to The Ed Sullivan Show from the family in 1990. “More than anything my grandfather was a man driven by a genuine love of talent, and he brought that love to the American public on his show every Sunday night. Millions of people would watch and the next day discuss who they saw on his show. People would buy records. It had a tremendous impact on the American culture at the time, and also today.”
Airing from 1948 (known as The Toast of the Town until 1955) to 1971 on CBS — with an inaugural episode that featured W.C. Handy, aka the Father of the Blues — the Sullivan Show averaged 40 million viewers each Sunday night. Over the course of its 1,068 episodes, it hosted 74 future Rock Hall inductees among its more than 10,000 performances — the most famous, of course, being the Beatles performance on Feb. 9, 1964, for which a reported 73 million viewers (and 60 percent of all television sets in the country) tuned in to watch. Prior to that, Elvis Presley’s Sept. 9, 1956 appearance attracted 60 million viewers (82.6 percent of the television audience).
The Harlem-born Sullivan — who passed away during 1974, appropriately on a Sunday night, at the age of 73 — was also known for his diversity and inclusivity. He deflected threatened advertiser boycotts and network concerns to book a broad variety of acts regardless of color or gender, ranging from Bo Diddley, Ray Charles, B.B. King, Nat “King” Cole, Ella Fitzgerald and many more. He also had a tight relationship with Motown founder Berry Gordy, Jr. and featured many of the company’s acts, and Sullivan fought to have Harry Belafonte on the show after network executives tried to ban the singer due to his political activism. All of that made Sullivan a significant, if subtle, advocate during the American Civil Rights movement.
“He was so open to all kinds of music,” notes SOFA’s Andrew Solt. “He loved rhythm & blues, and he loved the blues. If you were on Sullivan on Sunday night, on Monday you were selling records. And the families at home were loving it; (Sullivan) made a show for all the generations, kids and grandparents. He wanted to unify the family.”
Sullivan’s openness extended to country, jazz, gospel Broadway and other genres, making him a trusted and impactful influencer well before the Internet came into being. And after the Beatles’ success the show featured provocative counterculture artists such as the Rolling Stones, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, the Young Rascals and Sly and the Family Stone. The Doors were famously banned from future shows after reneging on a pre-telecast agreement to change the lyrics to “Light My Fire” — “higher” was the offending word — during the group’s Sept. 17, 1967 appearance.
“So many of the names on his show, nobody knew them when they appeared, and now they’re household names,” says Precht-Speciale, whose late father Bob Precht produced the Sullivan Show from 1960-71. “He had a great instinct, and he knew what people would genuinely like, and he just had such joy bringing it to everybody’s living room on those Sunday nights.” SOFA’s Josh Solt adds that, “I’ve heard people say it was the greatest collection of talent ever to appear on a single stage which is incredible to think about…. His eye for talent, as Margo said, was second to none. He’s such a pivotal person in American history by televising all these great artists, in their prime.”
The Rock Hall honor is something Precht-Speciale and the Solts say they’ve hoped for over the years but did not campaign for it and they were surprised by the news. They’re confident that Sunday Best, as well as SOFA’s efforts, helped push the selection; since the latter entered into a global digital rights agreement with UMe in 2020, The Ed Sullivan Show channel on YouTube has surpassed more than a million subscribers, with more than three billion streams. In addition to the musical performances SOFA has also established new audiences for early Muppets appearances and for Topo Gigio, the mouse puppet Sullivan would famously kiss goodnight at the end of episodes. The company has also worked on other documentaries and well as museum exhibitions and other avenues to expose the archive.
“We’ve just been trying to preserve Ed Sullivan’s legacy and showcase it and bring it to the masses…and connect with younger generations who might not have watched the show but know the acts or know these different viral moments we’ve had,” explains Josh Solt. “It’s such a reference point for history. We’ve uploaded so many iconic moments; we’re now going deeper with some hidden gems, as we like to call them. We want to continue that connection with the culture.”
The theater where The Ed Sullivan Show was broadcast from 1953-1971 was opened during 1927 as Hammerstein’s Theatre but was rechristened with his name in 1967. After Sullivan it was also home to the Merv Griffin Show, Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell, Late Show with David Letterman and, currently, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The latter is preparing for its final show on May 21, and Precht-Speciale says there’s symmetry between her grandfather’s pursuit and what Colbert has done there since 2015.
“Stephen Colbert and my grandfather both used their platforms at the Ed Sullivan Theater for something bigger,” she explains. “For my grandfather it was booking artists who weren’t getting other opportunities. He used that spotlight to open doors. For Colbert it’s calling out power with humor; he uses his wit to challenge the status quote and make people think. There’s been many parallels between the two, the connection obviously being the Ed Sullivan Theater.
Other broadcasters who have received the Rock Hall’s Ertegun Award include Alan Freed, Dick Clark, Tom Donahue, Don Kirshner and Don Cornelius. This year’s Rock Hall induction ceremony will not air live, as it has in recent years, but will be filmed for broadcast during December on ABC and Disney+.
Though its absence from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has been criticized from many quarters, Iron Maiden is pleased that the number of its beast has finally come up for induction.
The heavy metal stalwart was previously nominated in 2021 and 2023 and has been near the top of most lists of Rock Hall snubs over the years. Now it’s one of eight acts in the performer category that will be inducted during the shrine’s annual ceremony on Nov. 14 in Los Angeles. The group — which formed in 1975 in London — also received 395,000 votes in the fan vote.
In a statement following Monday night’s announcement on American Idol, longtime Iron Maiden manager Rod Smallwood said, “We’d like to thank the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for including us (and former members who were all part of our story) in the 2026 roll call of inductees. Iron Maiden have always been about our relationship with our fans above anything else, including awards and industry accolades. However, having said that, it’s always nice to be recognised and honoured for any achievements within the music industry too!”
Smallwood added that, “It also seems appropriate for the band to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year as we continue our 50th anniversary celebrations with our Run For Your Lives World Tour visiting the Americas and beyond. We would also like to congratulate our fellow 2026 inductees and extend our gratitude as ever to our fans for their loyalty, perseverance and support for over 50 years now! See you all, somewhere on tour.”
The tour, which focuses on material from Iron Maiden’s first nine albums, launched last May in Europe and picks up again on May 23 in Greece, with dates through November in Europe, North and South America, New Zealand, Australia and Japan. Additionally, a documentary film, Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition, opens in theaters worldwide on May 7. The group has said it’s planning a break for 2027.
Guitarist Adrian Smith recently told Billboard in an interview about the film that Iron Maiden’s long history of road work is as integral to the band’s connection with fans as its body of 17 studio albums. “It’s always been a touring band — tour, tour, tour, tour,” Smith notes. “Obviously there were albums in between that, but the philosophy was, ‘Let’s do this the hard way,’ I guess. We were never gonna get massive hit records — and I’m not criticizing people who did. What I’m saying is … we took the music to the people. I think in the long run people remember that, and it’s a very honest way to build up a following. We’re getting the payback for that now. It’s like a celebration, the band and the audience, ‘Look what we’ve done together!’ There’s always been that connection.”
As Smallwood notes, the Rock Hall induction will honor past members such as the late Paul Di’Anno and Clive Burr, as well as ‘90s frontman Blaze Bayley and longtime drummer Nicko McBrain, who retired from touring after 2024 due to health issues. The constant throughout has been bassist Steve Harris, who’s shepherded Maiden through myriad personnel changes and musical trends that have not always been kind to metal bands.
“He’s the driving force behind the band; he always has been and probably always will be,” Smith acknowledged. “We’re part of it. We’re contributors. But Steve is who’s really kept this alive.”
There’s no word yet on what Maiden might have planned for the ceremony. Frontman Bruce Dickinson, who’s in his second stint with the band, has been outspoken in the past about his disdain for the Rock Hall, labeling it “an utter, complete load of bollocks” while speaking to fans in 2018. He’s also said he feels Maiden deserves to be inducted, however.













