Lady Gaga, Jack White, Boy George Lead 2027 Songwriters Hall Nominees

By Elena Vasquez

The Songwriters Hall of Fame has named Lady Gaga, Jack White, Boy George, Sia, P!NK, Shakira and ZZ Top among the nominees for its 2027 class. The ballot spans six decades of pop, rock, country, hip-hop and disco. Voting members have until midnight EST on December 14, 2026 to submit ballots.\n Eligible voters may choose up to three nominees in each of two categories: songwriters and performing songwriters. Induction requires a catalog of notable songs released at least 20 years after a songwriter's first commercial release — the standard 20-year qualifying window.

Who made the songwriter ballot?

Non-performing and writer-track nominees include:

• Pete Bellotte — "Hot Stuff," "I Feel Love," "Love To Love You Baby"
• Boy Meets Girl (George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam) — "How Will I Know," "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)"
• Kandi Burruss — "No Scrubs," "Bills, Bills, Bills"
• Andreas Carlsson — "I Want It That Way," "Bye Bye Bye"
• Tom Douglas — "The House That Built Me," "Grown Men Don't Cry"
• Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein and Richard Gottehrer — "My Boyfriend's Back," "I Want Candy"
• Bob McDill — "Amanda," "Gone Country"
• Stargate (Mikkel Eriksen and Tor Hermansen) — "Irreplaceable," "Diamonds," "Firework"
• Maurice Starr — "Candy Girl," "Step by Step"
• Stock Aitken Waterman (Mike Stock, Matt Aitken, Pete Waterman) — "Never Gonna Give You Up," "I Should Be So Lucky"
• will.i.am (William Adams) — "Where Is The Love," "I Gotta Feeling"
• Dan Wilson — "Closing Time," "Someone Like You," "Not Ready To Make Nice"
• Toni Wine — "A Groovy Kind Of Love," "Candida"

That list pairs 1960s hitmakers with the Scandinavian production teams behind Beyoncé and Rihanna singles — a reminder that the Hall credits writers, not just voices.

Which performing songwriters are nominated?

• Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell of America — "A Horse with No Name," "Ventura Highway"
• Debbie Harry and Chris Stein of Blondie — "Call Me," "Heart of Glass," "Rapture"
• Boy George — "Karma Chameleon," "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me"
• Vince Gill — "Go Rest High On That Mountain," "When I Call Your Name"
• Grandmaster Melle Mel — "The Message," "White Lines (Don't Do It)"
• Lady Gaga — "Poker Face," "Bad Romance," "Born This Way," "Shallow," "Die With A Smile"
• Ne-Yo — "Irreplaceable," "Let Me Love You," "So Sick"
• P!NK — "So What," "Raise Your Glass," "What About Us"
• Shakira — "Hips Don't Lie," "Whenever, Wherever," "La Tortura"
• Sia — "Cheap Thrills," "Chandelier," "Titanium," "Unstoppable"
• WAR — "Low Rider," "Why Can't We Be Friends," "The Cisco Kid"
• Jack White — "Seven Nation Army," "Fell in Love With a Girl," "Steady As She Goes"
• ZZ Top's Frank Beard, Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill — "La Grange," "Sharp Dressed Man," "Legs"

The performing slate mixes one artist who broke through in the 2000s (Lady Gaga, whose catalog runs from "Poker Face" to 2024's "Die With A Smile") with bands formed in 1969. Two nominees appear on both tracks in spirit: Jerry Goldstein is listed with the 1960s Feldman-Goldstein-Gottehrer team and with WAR. Several nominees are deceased and marked accordingly, including ZZ Top's Dusty Hill and WAR members Charles William Miller, Morris "B.B." Dickerson and Thomas Sylvester Allen.

Voting closes December 14, 2026. The inductees who emerge will join a Hall that now honors songwriting from disco's "I Feel Love" to "Seven Nation Army" — the stadium chant that crossed from rock into global sports culture.