LOS ANGELES (AP) โ Albums from Elton John, Miles Davis, Tracy Chapman, Mary J. Blige and the cast of โHamilton" are entering America's audio canon, along with singles from Helen Reddy and Celine Dion and the music of Minecraft.
New inductees into the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress include Davis' groundbreaking 1970 merger of jazz and rock โBitches Brew,โ John's loaded-with-hits โGoodbye Yellow Brick Road" from 1973, Chapman's self-titled 1988 album that included โFast Car," Blige's deeply introspective 1994 โMy Life," and the 2015 original Broadway cast album of "Hamilton."
They were among the 25 recordings entering the archive in the class of 2025, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced Wednesday. The recordings were chosen for their โcultural, historical or aesthetic importance in the nationโs recorded sound heritageโ
โThese are the sounds of America โ our wide-ranging history and culture,โ Hayden said in a statement. โThe National Recording Registry is our evolving nationโs playlist.โ
Helen Reddy's 1972 โI Am Woman, Hear Me Roar" and Celine Dion's 1997 โMy Heart Will Go On" from the film โTitanicโ are among the singles entering the archive.
Among the more unusual inclusion's are the original music for the video game (and now monster hit movie) Minecraft from German producer Daniel Rosenfeld, as collected on the 2011 album, โMinecraft: Volume Alpha," and the reboot sound for Microsoft's Windows 95 operating system, created by Rock & Roll Hall of Fame musician and producer Brian Eno.
Announcer Chuck Thompson's radio broadcast of the 1960 World Series between the New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Pirates โ clinched with a Game 7 home run by the Pirates' Bill Mazeroski โ is also entering the registry.
The oldest recording in the class of 2025 is 1913's โAloha โOeโ by the Hawaiian Quintette. The most recent is the 2015 โHamiltonโ album, with music by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Other albums that won inclusion are 1968's โHello Dummyโ from insult comic Don Rickles, 1969's โChicago Transit Authorityโ from the band Chicago, 1975's โI've Got the Music in Meโ from Thelma Houston & Pressure Cooker, 1976's โFly Like an Eagleโ from the Steve Miller Band, and 2006's โBack to Blackโ from Amy Winehouse.
Career-defining singles from other canonical artists are joining those of Reddy and Dion, including 1952's โHappy Trailsโ from Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Freddy Fender's 1975 โBefore the Next Teardrop Falls," and 1971's โKiss an Angel Good Mornin'โ from trailblazing Black country artist Charley Pride.