Madonna News

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was out Thursday with its list of annual inductees, with Madonna leading the class of 2008.

Joining her in the Cleveland shrine will be John Mellencamp, Leonard Cohen, the Ventures and the Dave Clark Five. The induction will take place Mar. 10 in New York.

"The 2008 inductees are trailblazers—all unique and influential in their genres," said Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation President Joel Peresman. "From poetry to pop, these five acts demonstrate the rich diversity of rock and roll itself."

The inductee quintet was whittled down from a ballot of nine announced in September, selected and voted on by a group of 600 music-biz insiders. The Beastie Boys, Donna Summer, Chic and Afrika Bambaataa were the also-rans.

Performers do not become eligible for nomination into the Rock Hall until at least 25 years after their debut release.

The erstwhile Material Girl signed with Sire Records exactly a quarter-century ago, back in 1982. Since then, the reinvention-prone songbird has countless chart-topping hits, from 1980s smashes "Like a Virgin," "Material Girl" and "Papa Don't Preach," to '90s standouts like "Vogue," "Justify My Love" and "Ray of Light," to her latest fare, the dancefloor-inspired "Hung Up" and "Get Together."

Proving she's still, at age 49, a musical force to be reckoned with, Madonna recently inked a reported $120 million, 10-year deal with Live Nation, with her first new studio album under the lucrative contract due out this spring.

Joining Madonna on the Rock Hall podium this March is the equally enduring and evolving—in name if not style—Mellencamp. The rock veteran first struck it big back in 1982, when he was known solely as John Cougar, with the heartland hits "Jack and Diane" and "Hurts So Good."

As the 56-year-old singer's career got bigger, so too did his name, expanding to John Cougar Mellencamp as "Small Town" topped the charts in the mid-80s. Shortly after, he reverted back to his given name, John Mellencamp.

Folksy singer-songwriter-poet Cohen rose to fame in the 1960s. Now 73, the Montreal native is best known for his gutteral renditions of "Suzanne," "Bird on a Wire," "Dress Rehearsal Rag" and "I'm Your Man." His songs have been covered by Johnny Cash, R.E.M., U2, Willie Nelson, Rufus Wainwright and Elton John. He was also feted by Wainwright, Nick Cave and others in the 2006 tribute concert/documentary Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man.

The Ventures, meanwhile, were possibly the greatest of the surf-rock instrumental acts of the 1960s, scoring big with tunes like the anthemic "Walk Don't Run" and the "Hawaii Five-O" theme.

The band, led by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle, fell out of favor with U.S. audiences by the 1970s, their worldwide popularity continued full force, with the group selling out international tours through the 1980s. Fans of the band worked years to get the Ventures into the Rock Hall.

Rounding out this year's crop of inductees, the Dave Clark Five came to prominence in the early 1960s as one of the early members of the British Invasion. The band is best remembered for their 1964 hit, "Glad All Over," which gave the Beatles a run on the charts.

Along with the five acts elected for induction, blues harmonica virtuoso Little Walter will also be enshrined as an early influence. Finally, producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, architects of the Philly Sound, will be inducted as nonperformers. The duo's work on the Philadelphia International label helped propel artists like the O'Jays, McFadden & Whitehead and Lou Rawls into the mainstream.