NEW YORK - In her first year of eligibility, pop superstar Madonna has been selected as one of five artists to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The "Material Girl" will comprise the 2008 Hall of Fame Class, along with rocker John Mellencamp, Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, surf instrumental combo the Ventures and British Invasion group the Dave Clark Five.
"The 2008 inductees are trailblazers — all unique and influential in their genres," said Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation President and CEO Joel Peresman. "From poetry to pop, these five acts demonstrate the rich diversity of rock and roll itself. We are proud to honor these artists and celebrate their contribution to rock and roll's place in our culture."
Madonna first release was the single "Everybody" in 1982, which led to a self-titled debut album that included such hits as "Holiday," "Borderline," and "Lucky Star." She went on to become the top female star of the '80s, with seven No. 1 hits, three No. 1 albums, and seventeen top-ten hits in that decade.
Mellencamp, an Indiana native known as John Cougar in his early days, has evolved from conventional rock to an almost folk-country sound. Some of his larger hits over the years include "Jack and Diane," "Hurts So Good," "Pink Houses" and "Small Town."
From Seattle, The Ventures defined instrumental guitar rock in the '60s. Their hits bookended the decade, from 1960's "Walk Don't Run" to 1969's "Hawaii Five-O."
With the 1966 release of "In My Life" by Judy Collins, containing Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne" and "Dress Rehearsal Rag," Cohen became a folk rock icon of the singer-songwriter movement. After moving to New York in 1967, he released his classic album "Songs of Leonard Cohen" on Columbia Records, which launched him into the highest and most influential echelon of songwriters. Cohen's elegiac work is widely used in film and covered by artists from Jeff Buckley to Bono to Bob Dylan to R.E.M. As Kurt Cobain once said, "Give me a Leonard Cohen afterworld so I can sigh eternally."
One of the most successful British Invasion bands of the 1960s, The Dave Clark Five topped the UK charts in 1965 with their iconic pop song "Glad All Over." Reaching the top-40 seventeen times in just three years, and with more appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show" than the Beatles or the Rolling Stones, the DC5 were an enormous pop phenomenon before disbanding in 1970.
The Cleveland-based Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation was started in 1983 to honor music industry figures including musicians, producers, songwriters and disc jockeys who have made rock and roll a "force" in culture.
Once they're inducted, the artists get their own exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, which includes a computerized jukebox that contains just about every song the inductee wrote or played, according to the organization's Web site.
A panel of 600 industry figures selected the five acts to be inducted at the annual ceremony. To be eligible for the Rock Hall, artists must have issued their first single or album 25 years before nomination.
The 2008 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held on March 10 at New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
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