Recordings by Tupac Shakur, Willie Nelson, R.E.M. and the 1959 original cast album of "Gypsy" are among the 25 eclectic inductees announced today (June 23) to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry.

Under the terms of 2000's National Recording Preservation Act, the criteria for preservation by the Library of Congress are that the work be "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and be at least 10 years old. Nominations were gathered from online submissions from the public and from members of the National Recording Preservation Board.

In its citation for Shakur's "Dear Mama," the NRPB calls the song a "moving and eloquent homage to both his own mother and all mothers struggling to maintain a family in the face of addiction, poverty and societal indifference." Nelson's album "Red Headed Stranger" is cited for its "uncommon elegance," while R.E.M.'s "Radio Free Europe" is lauded for setting "the pattern for later indie rock releases by breaking through on college radio in the face of mainstream radio's general indifference."

According to Librarian of Congress James H. Billington, the Library of Congress' Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation in Culpeper, Va. will preserve and maintain these recordings and henceforward make them available to the American public. There are now 300 recordings in the National Recording Registry.

The complete list of inductees for the 2009 National Recording Registry are:

1.  Fon der Choope (From the Wedding) - Abe Elenkrig's Yidishe Orchestra (April 4, 1913) 
2. "Canal Street Blues," King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band (April 5, 1923)
3. "Tristan und Isolde," Metropolitan Opera, featuring Kirsten Flagstad and Lauritz Melchior, NBC Broadcast (March 9, 1935)
4. "When You Wish Upon a Star," Cliff Edwards (recorded 1938; released 1940)
5. "America's Town Meeting of the Air: Should Our Ships Convoy Materials to England?" (May 8, 1941)
6. The Library of Congress Marine Corps Combat Field Recording Collection, Second Battle of Guam (July 20 - August 11, 1944)
7. "Evangeline Special" and "Love Bridge Waltz," Iry LeJeune (1948)
8. "The Little Engine That Could," narrated by Paul Wing (1949)
9. Leon Metcalf Collection of recordings of the First People of Western Washington State (1950-1954)
10. "Tutti Frutti," Little Richard (1955)
11. "Smokestack Lightning," Howlin' Wolf (1956)
12. "Gypsy," original cast recording (1959)
13. The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, Bill Evans Trio (June 25, 1961)
14. "Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two)," Max Mathews (1961)
15. "I Started Out As a Child," Bill Cosby (1964)
16. "Azucar Pa Ti," Eddie Palmieri (1965)
17. "Today!," "Mississippi" John Hurt (1966)
18. "Silver Apples of the Moon," Morton Subotnick (1967)
19. "Soul Folk in Action," The Staple Singers (1968)
20. "The Band," The Band (1969)
21. "Coal Miner's Daughter," Loretta Lynn (1970)
22. "Red Headed Stranger," Willie Nelson (1975)
23. "Horses," Patti Smith (1975)
24. "Radio Free Europe," R.E.M. (1981)
25. "Dear Mama," Tupac Shakur (1995)