E very March, the music world crawls out of its cushy California lair and migrates east to Cleveland to pay homage to the artists who wave the rock and roll banner high and proud. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame represents the golden archway of immortal music, the road to which is paved with the blood, sweat, and sacrifice of those great archetypes who have crossed its royal threshold. Some are granted access on the merit of a great pop song, others measure their worth in their ability to blaze trails and inspire entire generations of musicians to come. Yet every inductee has done their part in one way or another to shape and mold the face of rock music. It's a journey that millions set out on but few manage to complete, and those who do can boast of a whole other realm of success that far transcends dollars and cents. With the annual induction ceremony airing Saturday, Marquee tips its hat to this year's illustrious five artists whose work and dedication have lifted them to the industry's highest pinnacle.

U2

The story behind Paul "Bono" Hewson's first band is hardly original or out of the ordinary. In 1976, he put a flyer up in his high school calling attention to anyone interested in starting a band. The flyer might as well have read, "soon to be larger-than-life cultural icon seeks band to help spark a musical revolution."

There was no telling the group of four seemingly ordinary kids from Dublin would go on to become the biggest rock band in the world, but that's just what happened. Through a combination of unprecedented pop savvy and an unquenchable rock and roll spirit, U2 has over the past 25 years scorched audiences the world over with a truly unforgettable fire of music that has not and will not ever be extinguished. Their music has the ability to hypnotize and motivate, to entrance and mesmerize with the faintest mutter of a lyric or strum of a guitar string. Never has there been a band so firmly convinced of the power of music to change the world, and if it can, we may very well have found our fearless heroes to lead the charge.

Definitive album: Picking the best U2 album is a lot like picking your favorite child. You really can't do it because they're all great in their own ways. But if you had to do it, The Joshua Tree would probably be the kid bringing home the flawless report card.

Percy Sledge

Soul music, more so than any other genre, has a fundamentally emotive foundation. From Al Green to Sam Cooke, soul singers have attained the ability to reach deep down within themselves, revealing their deepest thoughts and feelings, in search of musical inspiration. When you're talking about the almighty Percy Sledge, however, the term "soul searching" takes on a whole different meaning of unsurpassable proportions.

Here's a guy who put his heart and tears into his craft, a soul icon whose passion and gut wrenching tenderness spoke of a sensitive lyricist far gentler than his name would imply. His music came from such a real, honest and utterly human place that one can't help but get caught up in the moment when listening to his songs.

His standing as a hero in the world of soul is unrivaled, yet pop audiences, ever the so fickle bunch, were always somewhat less appreciative of Sledge's efforts. Yet in spite of his struggles to penetrate the mainstream consciousness in the long run, the impact and influence of his legacy in the music world will forever remain firmly in tact.

Definitive album: When a Man Loves a Woman will always stand as Sledge's great contribution to pop music, but if we're talking in strictly terms of great albums, it doesn't get any more earnestly revealing than on 1966's Warm and Tender Soul.

The Pretenders

In many ways, it makes almost perfect sense that the Pretenders have found their way into the Hall of Fame. All one has to do is look around at all the Gwen Stefanis and Courtney Loves running rampant up the charts to feel the band's influence, and more specifically that of front woman Chrissie Hynde, on the place of women in rock music. It could be argued that no other woman, with the lone exception of Patti Smith, has done as much to challenge the social convention that rock and roll is strictly a boys game.

A product of New York's post-punk, new wave scene of the late 70s, the Pretenders started out, like many of their peers as a punk band with a more melodic scope. But while most others in their coveted art rock scene died out with the trend, Hynde soldiered onward and pushed the band further toward being a great, straight up, no nonsense rock outfit, producing a string of singles, most notably 1980's "Brass in Pocket."

But what really made the Pretenders great was their toughness. Sure, they played hard, lived hard, and acted hard on and off the stage, but it was their heart and determination in the face of tragedy — original bassist and guitarists Pete Fandon and James Honeymon-Scott both overdosed within two months of each other in 1983 — that made the group iron clad. Say what you want, but there was never any stopping them and now they can consider their perseverance fully rewarded.

Definitive album: The Pretenders' self-titled 1980 debut was a textbook case of right time and right place. Released during a transitional era where punk's first wave was waning and new wave was on the rise, the band hits their stride here by skillfully crafting a pop sensible record without sacrificing their streetwise rock credibility.

The O'Jays

Certain artists possess the ability to perfectly capture a time and place in music history and embody a musical movement. Elvis Presley did it for early American rock and roll, while Frank Sinatra could well be regarded as the patron saint of lounge. But if we're talking about the funk and soul music that dominated the 70's pop charts, the O'Jays undeniably fit the bill.

Walter Williams, Bobby Massey, Eddie Levert, Bill Isles and William Powell, the five components of the O'Jays, were in many ways the core ambassadors of the Philadelphia soul sound. Coached and mentored by the legendary recording duo of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, the group had the propensity for moving from subtle love ballads to suave up tempo funk tunes with the drop of a dime, and it's that versatility that has allowed them to stand as one of the valiant mainstays of 70s pop music. While their popularity slowly declined over the years in mainstream circles, the O'Jays never once relented or turned their back on their soul roots, as they still record to this day, meshing their signature sound with today's more contemporary styles. It's hard to imagine where R & B would be today without their contributions to the form.

Definitive album: The group's 70s output is truly masterful, but even within that elite group of recordings, 1973's Ship Ahoy stands tall above everything else in the O'Jays' catalogue. Featuring the soul classic "For the Love of Money," the album is airtight and the closest the band has ever come to perfection.

Buddy Guy

Of all this year's inductees, the road to Cleveland has never been longer as it has for blues giant Buddy Guy. With a career that spans nearly a half century, boasting wingman duties for the likes of Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf as well as numerous Grammy winning solo turns, Guy doesn't simply play the blues, he lives it. Cut the man open and he'll bleed bluer than the ocean.

Here's a man who walks and talks with the swagger of a seasoned bluesman, and while countless imposters have tried to pull off the same mannerisms at least somewhat convincingly, Guy does it without so much as a flinch of an eyebrow. That's what 50 years playing the blues will do to a man.

As a member of the widely influential Chess Records lineup of the late 50s and early 60s, Guy became the torchbearer for Chicago house blues. One of the genre's true icons with the axe, he in many respects reinvented and pushed blues music forward with his innovative use of slides and whammy bars and his insistence on playing far louder than many of his cohorts. When Eric Clapton (who inducted Guy into the Hall of Fame Monday) calls you his favorite guitarist of all time, you've done well.

Definitive album: This one's a tough call. For purists who enjoy their blues steeped in tradition, check out 1967's I Left My Blues in San Francisco, Guy's last effort with Chess. Those who prefer a splash of pop in the mix would do well by picking up anything from the guitarist's days with Silvertone records, namely Damn Right, I've Got the Blues.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction airs on VH1 Saturday at 8 p.m. with Justin Timberlake, Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, B.B. King, Rod Stewart, Neil Young and more presenting.

This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on Mar. 17 2005.