Madonna's career has spanned three decades

John Mellencamp, The Ventures, Leonard Cohen and The Dave Clark Five, will also be honoured at a ceremony next month in New York.

The nominees are chosen by a committee and are whittled down to a final list of five by more than 600 music experts.

Acts only become eligible to be considered for the honour 25 years after their first recording.

Folk icon

Madonna signed her first US record deal in 1982, and scored her first hit with Holiday in the UK two years later.

The 49-year-old has constantly altered her image ever since and embraced different musical styles.

Indiana native Mellencamp became a voice of America's heartland with hits like Pink Houses.

Cohen became a folk icon in the late 1960s with songs such as Suzanne and Dress Rehearsal Rag.

The Ventures defined instrumental guitar rock in the 1960s with surfer anthems like Walk Don't Run and Hawaii Five-O.

Glad All Over helped The Dave Clark Five become one of the most successful British "invasion" bands of the US during the 1960s.

Last year's inductees were REM, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Van Halen, the Ronettes and Patti Smith.

Once included, the artists are featured in the Museum's Hall of Fame exhibit.

This includes a computerised jukebox containing every song of each inductee and a film played on three big screens recounting their careers and music.