The North Carolina Music Hall of Fame has announced its list of six new inductees for 2026.
This year's class includes Hip-Hop pioneer MC SHA-ROCK, Go-Go musician Sugar Bear, the Chapel Hill rock band Arrogance, Sugar Hill Records founder Barry Poss, and jazz composer and Duke Ellington collaborator Billy Strayhorn.
Parliament-Funkadelic founder George Clinton will also be honored this year by receiving the Eddie Ray Lifetime Achievement Award.
More information about this year's inductees is available here.
The 2026 honorees will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on October 15 at the Charles Mack Citizen Center in Mooresville. The event is open to the public and tickets are on sale now.
Founded in Thomasville in 1994, the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization that was created to honor North Carolina musicians, producers, executives, and educators of all genres and eras. Its mission is to unite the past, present, and future of North Carolina's musical heritage.
Since 1999, the Hall of Fame has annually inducted a new class into its ranks every year.
In 2014 the organization relocated to its current home in Kannapolis. Located at 600 Dale Earnhardt Boulevard, the Hall of Fame museum houses a robust collection of artifacts and memorabilia from North Carolina musicians.
