Madonna spoke of being possessed by magic as she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Monday along with Leonard Cohen, rocker John Mellencamp, British pop band The Dave Clark Five and instrumental group The Ventures.
Madonna and Justin Timberlake pose at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, Monday, March 10, 2008 in New York. Madonna was inducted into the Hall.(AP Photo)
"I felt like I had been possessed by some magic and luckily for me I have been miraculously and continuously possessed by some kind of magic," Madonna said at the annual Hall of Fame ceremony in New York.
"I have gone on to do so many things in my life, from writing children's books, to designing clothes, to directing a film. But for me it always does, and it always will, come back to the music, so thank you," she said.
Madonna, 49, was inducted by pop star Justin Timberlake, who has co-written and co-produced half the songs on her new album "Hard Candy," which is released next month. "Nobody has gotten into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame looking this damn fine," he said. "You're no old museum piece."
Madonna made her debut in 1982 and her first album "Madonna," including hits such as "Holiday," "Borderline" and "Lucky Star," helped her become one of the best-selling pop artists, with more then 200 million albums sold worldwide.
Artists become eligible for the Hall of Fame 25 years after the release of their first single or album and are represented in an exhibition at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum in Cleveland, Ohio.
While The Dave Clark Five and Mellencamp had been nominated before, this was the first year Madonna was eligible. Iggy & The Stooges performed rock versions of her pop hits "Burning Up" and "Ray of Light" after her induction.
Cohen, a gravel-voiced Canadian whose songs tell of love and sex, faith and betrayal, is among the most literary of songwriters. He published four books of poetry and two novels before trying music, partly to escape being a starving artist.
"This is a very unlikely occasion for me. It is not a distinction that I coveted or even dared dream about," he said before reciting the lyrics to "Tower of Song" from his 1988 album "I'm Your Man." He was inducted by Lou Reed.