Actor Catherine Zeta-Jones (left) with Bono before the induction ceremony. (AP)

New York, March 15 (Reuters): Irish rockers U2 were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, led by their charismatic singer Bono, whose work on behalf of Africa?s poor has also earned him status as a political statesman.

The 20th annual ceremony on Monday night at New York?s Waldorf Astoria hotel also honoured The Pretenders, led by singer-guitarist Chrissie Hynde, soul veterans Percy Sledge ,The ?Jays as well as blues-guitar great Buddy Guy as members of rock?s elite.

Nominees must have a 25-year recording history and are chosen by a group of industry insiders.

?(U2) are the keepers of some of the most beautiful sonic architecture in the rock-and-roll world,? said rocker Bruce Springsteen while inducting U2.

Bono, a born-again Christian, was a highlight of the Live Aid concert for Ethiopian famine relief in 1985 and has since campaigned for the world?s poor. This led to gossip that the Bush administration was considering him as the next head of the World Bank, but the singer dismissed the idea at a post-gala press conference.

?Don?t quit your day job yet my friend, you?re pretty good at it,? Springsteen joked of the speculation about Bono, whom he called a ?plain operator? and a ?crazy Irishman.?

Bono said: ?This is a bit of an Irish wedding ? beautiful girls and beautiful frocks and fights in the bathroom.?

He then urged music executives to rethink how they do business, saying in the current sales-obsessed climate U2 would have been dumped during a slump after their second record, October, which included overtly religious songs.

?There would be no U2 the way things are now, that?s a fact,? he said. Stars such as Springsteen, who failed to have early hits, would have failed to make the grade with today?s music companies, he said.

Founded in Dublin in 1978, U2 penned political songs such as Sunday Bloody Sunday and uplifting rockers like Where the Streets Have No Name.

As the band played, Bono sang at first amid the tables, taking champagne and dousing his band mates. Renditions of Pride and I Still Haven?t Found What I?m Looking For brought the crowd to their feet.

The Dublin quartet ? Bono, guitarist The Edge, bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullin Jr. ? broke through with 1987?s The Joshua Tree and became one of the world?s most successful rockers.