Madonna in New York. (AP)

New York, March 10 (Reuters): Madonna spoke of being possessed by magic as she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame yesterday along with Leonard Cohen, rocker John Mellencamp, British pop band The Dave Clark Five and instrumental group The Ventures.

“I felt like I had been possessed by some magic and luckily for me I have been miraculously and continuously possessed by some kind of magic,” Madonna said at the annual Hall of Fame ceremony in New York.

“I have gone on to do so many things in my life, from writing children’s books, to designing clothes, to directing a film. But for me it always does, and it always will, come back to the music, so thank you,” she said.

Madonna, 49, was inducted by pop star Justin Timberlake, who has co-written and co-produced half the songs on her new album Hard Candy, which is released next month. “Nobody has got into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame looking this damn fine,” he said. “You’re no old museum piece.”

Madonna made her debut in 1982 and her first album Madonna, with hits such as Holiday, Borderline and Lucky Star, helped her become one of the bestselling pop artists. She sold more then 200 million albums sold worldwide.

Artists become eligible for the Hall of Fame 25 years after the release of their first single or album and are represented in an exhibition at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum in Cleveland, Ohio.