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The big shock is Metallica not getting nominated in the band's first year of eligibility. It also shows moreso that the HOF isn't and never restricted nominees (and inductees) to *rock* acts- it's not just about rock, but the rock era, which has included many an influential and impactful genres.
Obviously, I'm pleased that Madge is a nominee out of the gate- though it's not surprising. She's unrivaled for pop music over the last 25 years, and what she has done in her music, stage shows, videos, etc. in terms of challenging gender, religious, sexual and social mores is unparalleled. Her importance is undeniable.
On a side note, in 2004, UK launched its own Hall of Fame, which is called "Music Hall of Fame." The 5 founding members were The Beatles, Elvis, Bob Marley, Madonna and U2.
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The 2008 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees Press Release
September 27, 2007
For Immediate Release:
THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES NOMINEES FOR 2008 INDUCTION
(New York) -- The nominations for 2008 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame were announced today. The nine nominees are: Afrika Bambaataa, Beastie Boys, Chic, Leonard Cohen, The Dave Clark Five, Madonna, John Mellencamp, Donna Summer and The Ventures. Ballots with these nominees will be sent to over 500 voters who will choose the acts for inclusion into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for this year. Five new inductees will be honored at the annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony on March 10, 2008 at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York.
To be eligible for nomination into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, an act must have released its first single or album at least 25 years prior to the year of nomination. This year's nominees had to release their first single no later than 1982.
Afrika Bambaataabegan DJing at block parties in the Bronx in 1977 with the help of Universal Zulu Nation, an organization he founded to help pull Bronx youth away from gangs. Bambaataa's stunning knowledge of obscure funk grooves and his turntable skills earned him the nickname "Master of Records." As his parties grew, so did his Zulu Nation "“ which soon encompassed the Bronx's finest rappers, break dancers and graffiti artists. In 1982, Bambaataa released the Kraftwerk-sampling hit single "Planet Rock" which spawned an entirely new genre of music: electro funk. In 1984, he teamed up with former Sex Pistol John Lydon for "World Destruction" one of the earliest examples of rap fusing with rock and roll.
The Beastie Boys began as a hardcore punk band in 1982, but soon jumped to the city's vibrant rap scene. Their Rick Rubin-produced album, Licensed to Ill, was a masterful collage of classic rock samples, pop culture references and bratty attitude. Its fifth single, "(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)" became an MTV staple and the party anthem of the 1980s. The Beasties' follow up, 1989's Paul's Boutique was a critically loved masterwork of sampling. In the 1990s, they became elder statesmen of the genre, scoring monster hits ("Sabotage", "Intergalatic") while speaking out about social and political issues such as the Tibetan Freedom Concerts. In 2007, the Beasties released The Mix-Up, a post-punk instrumental album further showcasing their boundless originality.
Chic was a pioneering New York jazz-funk group led by Nile Rodgers on guitar, Bernard Edwards on bass and Tony Thompson on drums. Chic brought refined musicianship and rhythmic innovation to 1970s disco, and also laid the foundation for hip hop, with their song "Good Times" providing the music for the groundbreaking hit "Rapper's Delight." Chic created some of the disco era's classic songs such as "Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)" and "Le Freak." Rodgers and Edwards went on to write and produce some of the '80s' biggest pop songs for Madonna, David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Diana Ross, Sister Sledge, and others.
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. Already an acclaimed poet and novelist in his native Canada, Cohen moved to New York in 1967 and released his classic album Songs of Leonard Cohen on Columbia Records. Its music launched Leonard Cohen 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 said, "Give me a Leonard Cohen afterworld so I can sigh eternally."
One of the most successful British Invasion bands of the Sixties, The Dave Clark Five topped the UK charts in 1965 with their iconic pop song "Glad All Over." Thundering production set the DC5 apart. Their slick melodic sensibility masked their boom factor: The DC5 were the loudest group in the U.K. until the advent of The Who. Drummer, songwriter and manager Dave Clark provided a perfect foundation for Mike Smith's soulful vocals. Reaching the Top Forty 17 times in just three years, 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 Dave Clark Five have sold more than 50 million records worldwide to date.
Doors opened wide for Madonna Louise Ciccone in 1982, after five years as a singer and dancer on New York City's competitive club circuit. She signed with Sire Records (her label for the next 14 years) where her idiosyncratic persona exploded onto turntables, dance floors and airwaves and captured the imagination of the first generation of MTV viewers. She went on to become the top female star of the 1980s with seven #1 hits, three #1 albums and seventeen top ten hits in that decade. In addition to molding her public image, Madonna is a meticulous studio craftsperson and completely uninhibited stage performer. From her first #1, 1984's "Like A Virgin" (produced by Nile Rogers of Chic) to her most recent two year Confessions campaign, Madonna remains one of the most ferociously original artists in music today.
Over the course of his career, John Mellencamp has become a symbol of the hopes, struggles and passions of America's heartland. As a songwriter, many of his efforts have transcended "hit" status ("Hurts So Good," "Pink Houses," "I Need A Lover") and have entered the cultural vernacular. Mellencamp's musical heart is in his ballads and rock numbers rooted in late 50s and early 60s rock and roll. His music describes the American experience; the hopes and fears of the common everyman. As co-founder of Farm Aid, Indiana's favorite son gives voice to issues that might otherwise be ignored, from our disappearing farmlands to the role of race and class in America.
Raised in the church, rooted in gospel, LaDonna Andrea Gaines would become Donna Summer, the undisputed "Queen of Disco." In 1975, "Love To Love You Baby"began a long-term association with Munich-based songwriters and producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte. Summer made history from 1979-1980 as the only artist ever to have three consecutive multi disc albums all hit #1: Live and More, Bad Girls and On The Radio. Her first U.S. recorded LP, the self-titled Donna Summer, produced by Quincy Jones in 1982 featured Bruce Springsteen and other notable rock contributors. "She Works Hard For The Money" kept Summer at the top of the charts in 1983, followed by the top 10 hit "This Time I Know It's Real" in 1989. Endless covers and sampling of her music proves that Summers' contribution remains compelling and classic.
From Seattle, The Ventures defined instrumental guitar rock in the 1960s. Their hits bookended the decade, from 1960's "Walk Don't Run" to 1969's "Hawaii Five-O." Nokie Edwards' twang-guitar and the crisp rhythm of Don Wilson, bassist Bob Bogle and drummer Mel Taylor gave every Ventures album their trademark bent note sound. Long admired by other bands like the Beatles (and especially George Harrison), Stephen Stills, Joe Walsh, Aerosmith, and others, The Ventures hit the Billboard chart nearly three dozen times in the 1960s. The transparent stereo mixes enabled guitarists to isolate and learn every riff, an idea that fueled 1965's essential instruction LP Play Guitar With The Ventures. Founders of surf rock, The Ventures inspired a classic line of Mosrite guitars and have maintained a flourishing touring and recording career for decades, especially in Europe and Japan.
Five new members will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The five inductees will be announced in January, 2008, and the induction ceremony will take place on March 10, 2008. All inductees are ultimately represented in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, in Cleveland, Ohio. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a nonprofit organization that exists to educate visitors, fans and scholars from around the world about the history and continuing significance of rock and roll music. It carries out this mission both through its operation of a world-class museum that collects, preserves, exhibits and interprets this art form and through its library and archives as well as its educational programs. 
it's not just rock & roll- never has been. It's been rock, soul, R&B, pop, etc. from the start.
Once again, it's a body of 500+ voters who end up choosing the 5 who get inducted.
Believe me, there are nagging fans of every act out there, but that doesn't mean Celine Dion or Britney Spears (among others) are going to be considered. 
John Mellencamp
Dave Clark Five
The Ventures
Leonard Cohen
And...
MADONNA
Henrik, break out the bubbly.
Sure it means somethin',especially when the acts who get in are truly deserving. it ain't like Barry Manilow is in the HOF or anything like that! . Then, I think we could start slammin' it.
Black artists aren't represented this year, but have had little trouble in past years.
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Rock Hall takes a walk on the white side
First, if you missed it, your new 2008 Rock and Roll Hall of Famers: the Dave Clark Five, Leonard Cohen, Madonna, John Mellencamp, The Ventures. Left out: Afrika Bambaata, Beastie Boys, Chic, Donna Summer.
As usual, the results are a mixed bag. It's interesting to see how the vote divides -- when Madonna is the closest you've got to R&B/hip-hop/disco/soul and the whole universe of black music, it's rather telling. (Yes, the DC5 and Mellencamp are clearly influenced by soul and R&B, but it's a secondary and secondhand part of their total musical DNA.) Still, there were a couple of nominees firmly on the hip-hop side who were, I think, rightly rejected.
Starting with the new inductees:
> DC5: Whether or not this is a payback for last year's rumored executive substitution of Grandmaster Flash for the British Invasion quintet, it's a deserved win. The DC5 tends to get lumped by historians with the lightweight, disposable wing of the 1964-66 British Invasion, but they're far from a Herman's Hermits teen dream or a Freddie & The Dreamers novelty act. Their taste in R&B and rock (they covered songs by The Contours, Link Wray, Chris Kenner and many more) was impeccable, their use of saxophone added a thick, driving texture not found in records by The Beatles and the Stones, and in Mike Smith they had a leather-lunged singer who could belt it out with the best. Original hits such as Any Way You Want It and Try Too Hard should be considered classics, and many of their later experimental B-sides and album tracks will surprise you with their inventiveness. (Disclaimer: I'm prejudiced here, having annotated and helped to assemble the History of the Dave Clark Five CD anthology in the '90s.)
> Leonard Cohen: As I said when the ballot was announced, I'm perfectly fine with the Canadian poet/singer/songwriters credentials, but he strikes me as the kind of artist who doesn't require immediate election. He's one of two who the voters should have bypassed this year, but his presence -- with the wealth of brilliant songs he wrote and sang -- enriches the Hall.
> Madonna: I had no doubts she'd be elected, and I have no doubts she merits inclusion. Distinctions between "rock" and pop have long since been erased in the Hall's roster as it's evolved, and you simply can't ignore the biggest solo star of the last quarter-century -- especially when so much of her music is truly great.
> John Mellencamp: About time. When Springsteen and Petty are in and Mellencamp's out, it's a gnawing imbalance, now corrected.
> The Ventures: A pioneering instrumental rock band, sure, but what suddenly makes them so nominatable and electable this year after they languished for decades after their initial eligibility. Should have been held over.
And now for the unelected:
> Afrika Bambaataa: Much as it's commendable to reward hip-hop's pioneers with a place in the Hall, Bambaataa's role was far too limited and his impact outside of New York far too minimal to deserve induction.
> Beastie Boys: This result was, frankly, a pleasant surprise for me. I thought they'd be elected and I just couldn't see it. Despite their artistic growth over the years, it rankled with me that they'd be among the first hip-hop inductees. Maybe they can be reconsidered after Run-DMC, LL Cool J and Public Enemy and a few other '80s stars get their due.
> Chic: The rankest injustice in the vote. Somebody needs to wake up the voters to the clearly evident facts that this was the most virtuosic band of players of the late '70s/early '80s, that their songwriting and production is in the class of the immortals, and that the music labeled disco in this case incorporates some of the toughest and tightest funk, R&B and rock extant. Their best songs are transcendent. This oversight needs to be corrected next year.
> Donna Summer: I've wrestled with this case, but have come around to thinking that she really has a substantial body of work, most of it co-written by her, and her artistic peaks (the Four Seasons of Love and Once Upon a Time albums and the revolutionary I Feel Love single) are as lofty as any in the era. She's a victim of lingering anti-disco prejudice, like Chic, and it's time for that to change.
Madonna was inducted, of course JR already posted it. 