Madonna and John Mellencamp, two stars who got their start in the early 1980s and took decidedly different career paths, lead the list of 2008 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, announced today.

Madonna

The list also includes crooner Leonard Cohen, instrumental rockers the Ventures, and British Invasion group the Dave Clark Five. Each inductee will be enshrined next year in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with a ceremony to be held March 10 at New York's Waldorf Astoria hotel.

The inclusion of Madonna and Mellencamp is no surprise. The former has been one of the biggest pop stars in the world since first emerging onto the scene in 1982, while the latter has represented the heartland for more than 25 years with such hits as "Pink Houses" and "Jack & Diane."

Both show no sign of slowing down. Madonna recently inked a landmark, $120 million deal with Live Nation's new Artist Nation and will release her final album with Warner Bros. in spring 2008. Mellencamp, whose song "Our Country" was nominated for a Grammy for best rock song earlier this month is in the midst of a tour and plans to release a new album in 2008, with acclaimed producer T. Bone Burnett.

John Mellencamp

Cohen has had a remarkable career since the late 1960s, bringing his melancholic and brooding poetry into rock as a singer-songwriter. He was the subject of a tribute film in 2005 called I'm Your Man, in which more than a dozen artists who revere Cohen performed cover versions of his songs.

The Ventures are best known for instrumental rock evergreens, such as the theme from "Hawaii Five-O," "Walk Don't Run," and "Perfidia." Thanks to such hits as "Glad All Over," "Over and Over," and "Catch Us if You Can," the Dave Clark Five were one of the earliest and most successful of the British Invasion bands.

Little Walter will be inducted in the sideman category, while producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff will be inducted in the non-performer category, which has been renamed in honor of the late Ahmet Ertegun.

While the 2008 list of inductees contained few surprises, the exclusion of some newly eligible shocked some. On the heels of the 2007 induction of Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, the first-ever entry for a hip-hop act, fellow hip-hop pioneers The Beastie Boys and Afrika Bambaataa were not inducted in their first year of eligibility, while disco icons Donna Summer and Chic also missed the cut.