Led Zeppelin and John Lennon’s musical recordings have been included in the US National Recording Registry for preservation.
Due to their cultural value, the US Library of Congress has announced the addition of 25 recordings to its collection. John Lennon‘s “Imagine,” Led Zeppelin‘s “Stairway to Heaven,” “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” by Eurythmics, and “Flashdance … What a Feeling” by Irene Cara. John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” and Jimmy Buffett’s “Margaritaville” has also been preserved.
1984 Like A Virgin album by Madonna and Mariah Carey‘s holiday hymn, “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which were both hailed as “the defining sounds of the nation’s history and culture,” are also included among the most recent additions. The classic Super Mario Bros. video game soundtrack was also chosen, making it the first time video game music has received such honors.
Déjà Vu by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Police’s 1983 album Synchronicity, and jazz singer Wynton Marsalis’ 1985 LP, Black Codes (From the Underground), are just a few of the complete albums that have been honored by the US Library of Congress.
With the addition of her 1989 album All Hail The Queen to the recording registry, Queen Latifah becomes the first female rapper to do so.
The Super Mario Bros. theme by Koji Kondo is the first piece of video game music to acquire the distinction.
Other audio artifacts from over a century ago are also being added to the registry, including the 2012 composition Concerto for Clarinet and Chamber Orchestra by composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich and the earliest known mariachi recordings made in 1908 and 1909 by Cuarteto Coculense.
The Ground Theme from Super Mario Bros., composed by young Nintendo composer Koji Kondo, is the first piece of video game music to be listed on the registry.
