Staten Island's Wu-Tang Clan to enter the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame unveiled its list of inductees for 2026, and it includes a legendary, local hip-hop collective.
Staten Island's Wu-Tang Clan is among this year's class of honorees.
Other members of this year's class of inductees include Billy Idol, Iron Maiden, Joy Division/New Order, Luther Vandross, Oasis, Phil Collins, Queen Latifah and Sade.
To qualify for consideration, an artist must have released their first commercial recording at least 25 years ago. More than 1,200 artists, historians and members of the music industry vote on the nominees.
The induction will take place in November in Los Angeles.
The Wu-Tang Clan has been celebrated as rap innovators since their 1993 debut album "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)," widely considered one of the most influential hip-hop albums of all time. They released seven studio albums over more than three decades. The group's members are a who's who of now iconic names, including the RZA, the GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Ghostface Killah, Raekwon the Chief, Masta Killa, U-God and Inspectah Deck.
"What they did was very unique in the 1990s, to come together as a nine-man group. They took martial arts iconography, right? They took a lot from the 5% Nation of Gods and Earths, which was like an offshoot of the Nation of Islam. And they took a lot of comic book superhero imagery, and they kind of blended it, and made something just super unique," Hip Hop Museum cultural historian Miles Marshall Lewis said.
The impact of the Wu-Tang Clan on New Yorkers can't be denied.
"My whole playlist is majority Wu-Tang. If it's not Wu-Tang, than this is Wu-Tang affiliates," fan Mike Young said. "It's really about time. Wu-Tang definitely inspired generations, growing up, listening to them on the radio."
On Staten Island, there are murals and a street renamed after the crew.
"New York City is proud of hip-hop and the contribution hip-hop has given to the world. There's a lot of hip-hop globally, but also got to remember where it came from," hip-hop historian Leroy McCarthy said.
Their album "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin" was created as a piece of art and was never intended to be released to the public. It was purchased by Martin Shkreli. The convicted pharmaceutical CEO was forced to forfeit the album, and the U.S. government sold it in 2021 for an undisclosed amount.
Last year, the legendary group played their final New York shows as part of a farewell tour, dubbed "The Final Chamber Tour."
