Alicia Keys’ debut album “Songs in A Minor,” Ricky Martin’s “Livin’ La Vida Loca” and Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin” are some of the twenty-five influential songs joining the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress later in the year
The 2022 class includes recordings by Linda Ronstadt, A Tribe Called Quest, Wu-Tang Clan and Buena Vista Social Club.
According to the Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden the 25 recordings were dubbed audio treasures worthy of preservation for all time based on their cultural, historical or aesthetic importance in the nation’s recorded sound heritage, according to a press release.
“The National Recording Registry reflects the diverse music and voices that have shaped our nation’s history and culture through recorded sound,” Hayden said.
“The national library is proud to help preserve these recordings, and we welcome the public’s input. We received about 1,000 public nominations this year for recordings to add to the registry.”
With the present chosen recordings for the National Recording Registry, the number of titles on the registry hit 600, which accounts for just a small portion of the national library’s vast recorded sound collection of nearly 4 million items.
Keys dropped her debut Songs In A Minor in 2001, and is credited for having written, produced and arranged the majority of the album herself. The record went on to win her five GRAMMYs at the 44th annual awards.
Keys described her album, “Songs in A Minor,” as a story and one of her favorite albums as she recalled writing songs like “Troubles,” “Rock wit U,” “A Woman’s Worth” and “Fallin’” in her teens and recording them in her one-bedroom Harlem apartment.
“I’m so honored and grateful that ‘Songs in A Minor,’ the entire album, gets to be recognized as such a powerful body of work that is just going to be timeless,” Keys said of her album’s induction into the registry.
Steve Perry, the lead singer of Journey commenting on his “Don’t Stop Believin” said:
“That song, over the years, has become something that has a life of its own,” Perry said.
“It’s about the people who’ve embraced it and found the lyrics to be something they can relate to and hold onto and sing.”
