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Leonard Cohen is the third Canadian solo act to be admitted to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

Neil Young and Joni Mitchell preceded him.

In 1967, Leonard Cohen relocated to the United States to pursue a career as a folk singer-songwriter. His song "Suzanne" became a hit for Judy Collins.

After performing at a few folk festivals, he came to the attention of Columbia Records representative John H. Hammond (who signed artists such as Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and Billie Holiday).

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation Inductees for 2008 were honored at a ceremony on March 10, 2008 at NYC's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Tom Hanks, Lou Reed, Justin Timberlake, Billy Joel, John Fogarty, were among the presenters. Joan Jett, Patti LaBelle and Jerry Butler performed.

John Mellencamp is a pure product of middle America. Through a combination of talent, vision and stubborn determination he became an authoritative rocker and adroit storyteller. His best songs – including “Pink Houses,” “Small Town” and “Rain on the Scarecrow” - symbolize the hopes, fears and basic decency of America’s heartland. He also has captured rock’s feisty, independent spirit and dogged

As a fully liberated woman who’s lived life on her own terms, Madonna has been an icon to many since bursting on the scene in 1981. Certainly Madonna is one of the most fascinating, uninhibited and well-documented figures of the modern age, and her music has provided an ongoing documentary of her life and times. From the energetic dance-floor anthems of her early years to the introspective balladry of her middle period to the religious and political themes that preoccupy her later work, Madonna has offered surprises and challenges at every turn.

The VENTURES are the biggest selling instrumental guitar band in music history, approaching one hundred million in sales and recording over 240 albums worldwide. They are without a doubt one of the most influential guitar bands of all time. They’re best remembered for a pair of Sixties smashes, “Walk – Don’t Run” and “Hawaii Five-O.” Yet their most impressive feat was charting 38 albums from 1960 to 1972. Guitar Player magazine called them “the quintessential guitar combo of the pre-Beatles era, [who] influenced not only styles, but also a generation’s choice of instruments.” Bob Bogle (guitar, bass) Nokie Edwards (guitar, bass); Gerry McGee (guitar); Mel Taylor (drums; died August 11, 1996), and Don Wilson (guitar).

DC5 In the early years of the British Invasion, two bands vied for supremacy:

the Beatles and the Dave Clark Five. Granted, the Fab Four from Liverpool out-charted the five lads from London, but no other band – not the Rolling Stones, Kinks or Animals - came close to the Dave Clark Five’s hitmaking prowess from early 1964 to mid-1966. During that period, the “DC5,” as they were known in fan shorthand, placed 15 consecutive singles in the U.S. Top Forty. It is one of the most impressive statistical feats of the British Invasion.

Their historic run began with “Glad All Over” and ended with “Please Tell Me Why.” Dave Clark (drums, vocals); Lenny Davidson (guitar); Rick Huxley (bass); Denis Payton (saxes, harmonica, vocals; died December 17, 2006) and Mike Smith (keyboards, vocals) suffered a spinal cord injury in a fall at his home in 2003. He died Feb 27, 2008, shortly after returning home to his wife Charlie, assisted by caregivers 24/7. (Citing anonymous sources, foxnews.com reported last year that the DC5 had received enough votes for induction in 2007 but were passed over in favor of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five; Rock Hall officials denied the allegation.)

Walter “Little Walter” Jacobs (harmonica, guitar, vocals; (Born May 1, 1930, died February 15, 1968)

Harmonica virtuoso Little Walter was a key contributor to bluesman Muddy Waters’ music in the first half of the Fifties. Both as a sideman and bandleader, Little Walter revolutionized the sound of blues harmonica through amplification, clasping a mike to the harp as he played.

(See 'Little Walter' Link: Harmonica)

Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff were the architects of the Philly Soul sound. Working jointly on songwriting and production, they made Philadelphia the capital of soul music in the Seventies. They worked with the O’Jays, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, the Intruders, the Three Degrees, McFadden & Whitehead, Jerry Butler, Lou Rawls, Dee Dee Sharp, Phyllis Hyman and many others.