Last night, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame + Museum (in Cleveland) held it's annual induction ceremony (in New York City). The performer inductees were: Leonard Cohen, the Dave Clark Five, Madonna, John Mellencamp and the Ventures. Little Walter was inducted in the sideman category, and the newly named Ahmet Ertegun Award (formerly the non-performer category) was presented to legendary producers Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff.

I'm familiar with Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," the Dave Clark Five's "Glad All Over" and the Ventures' theme for "Hawaii Five-O," but it's Madonna and Mellencamp that are nearest to my heart.

I'll always remember the first time I heard Madonna. It was 1983 and the song was "Borderline." Little did I know that the voice singing that catchy tune would become the top female star of the 1980s, with seven No. 1 hits, three No. 1 albums and 17 top 10 hits in that decade. From the "Like a Virgin" album, I loved "Dress You Up" and "Material Girl." And in the fall of 1986, I practically wore out my "True Blue" cassette. And "Cherish," from the controversial "Like a Prayer" album, is still a favorite. Today, Madonna continues to reinvent herself and, while I don't follow her music as much as I did 20 years ago, I respect what she is trying to do with each successive album. (I can even find it in my heart to forgive her for her misguided attempt to cover "American Pie," a classic epic that should never be tampered with.)

And then there's Johnny Cougar.

I think the first time I was aware of Mellencamp was when I was watching a video for "Cherry Bomb" on MTV. (It was a good thing they put all that handy information on the bottom left portion of the screen at the beginning and end of each video.) I followed his career on and off -- when his songs were on the radio and when he took time off between albums. I enjoyed "Jack & Diane," "Little Pink Houses" and "Authority Song," despite the fact that I wasn't really aware of the world of which he wrote. There was absolutely nothing to link me to the Indiana-born Johnny Cougar, aside from his music.

And then, I read that he was born with spina bifida, just like me.

It changed my perception of him, but in a good way. Ten years ago, I sat in awe of him as he performed a thorough mix of hits to an enthusiastic amphitheater crowd on a hot summer night.

When he released the song "Walk Tall" in 2004, with an accompanying video that featured a young girl in a wheelchair -- who bonded with a dwarf who was being persecuted for his stature -- it brought tears to my eyes.

This morning, when I read that Mellencamp made reference to the life-surgery he had when he was six weeks old that prevented him from being paralyzed from the neck down, my eyes welled up again.

"I'm lucky to be standing here," he said.

And I'm lucky to be able to look up to John Mellencamp as someone who has succeeded, despite what was probably a bleak outlook at the start of his life. To me, he's an inspiration.