Broadway's Hamilton cast album has been chosen by the Library of Congress for preservation in its National Recording Registry. The program selects recordings as "audio treasures worthy of preservation for all time based on their cultural, historical, or aesthetic importance in the nation's recorded sound heritage."
The album, like the musical, has been a best-selling phenomenon, receiving Diamond certification (meaning 10 million copies sold) from the RIAA in 2023. Produced by The Roots members Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter, the album preserves the Lin-Manuel Miranda musical's original Broadway cast, and released September 25, 2015, via Atlantic Records.
The designation is an interesting one in the wake of President Trump's crusade against so-called "woke" performances at the also-government-funded Kennedy Center. The national tour of Hamilton canceled a planned Kennedy Center stop in response to Trump's takeover and programming changes at the venue, after which Trump publicly claimed he "never liked Hamilton very much" in response, per .
Also being inducted this year are C茅line Dion's 1997 single "My Heart Will Go On," Elton John album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, the Microsoft reboot chime, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans' "Happy Trails," Mikes Davis' jazz album Bitches Brew, and more. The full list is at .
The Broadway production of Hamilton continues its Tony-winning run at the Richard Rodgers Theatre.
