here were more than a few surprises at the 11th annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, held once again at the glitzy Waldorf-Astoria, in New York.

The Velvet Underground performed in America for the first time in 25 years; Madonna said that hearing David Bowie at her first concert made her "a changed woman"; and in an unprecedented move, an inductee - Pete Seeger - accepted his award without saying a word.

The glittery event saluted rock's groundbreakers: David Bowie, influential radio DJ Tom Donahue, Jefferson Airplane, Little Wille John, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Pink Floyd, Pete Seeger, The Shirelles and the Velvet Underground. Meanwhile Peter Gabriel, art Garfunkel, Joan Osborne and Robbie Robbertson were among those on hand to either work or gawk. It certainly wasn't to feast on the rubber-chicken kebabs.

Atlantic CEO Ahmet Ertegun kicked off things by paraphrasing Mark Twain (a rocker in his day) on Wagner: "This music isn't as bad as it sounds." Then it was time for Stevie Wonder to pay tribute to the late soulman Little Willie John with a vigorous rendition of his hit "Fever," trading verses with John's son Keith, who happens to be a member of Wonder's band.

Waiting in the Wings was a jittery Patti Smith who ushered in the Velvet Underground with an artful poem. Lou Reed responded, "I just regret that Sterling Morrison couldn't share it." (Morrison died of cancer last year.) John Cale added that the honor showed that "sales are not the be-all and end-all. Inspiration and artistic freedom is the cornerstone of rock & roll." Smith reappeared to deliver an achingly beautiful rendition of the Velvet's "Pale Blue Eyes." Then the three surviving band members - Reed, Cale and drummer Moe Tucker - performed a song dedicated to Morrison. "Last Night I Said Goodbye to My Friend," which had been penned just days earlier.

Next up, a minimally clad Mariah Carey welcomed Gladys Knight and the Pips. Knight compared entering the Hall of Fame - after 48 years in the business - to looking for a man: "When you stop looking, he shows up."

The executive vice president of the Hall of Fame, Bob Krasnow, was then brought out to credit "Big Daddy" Tom Donahue, the San Francisco DJ who revolutionized FM in the late '60s with free-form radio. Donahue's fellow San Franciscans in Jefferson Airplane - minus Grace Slick, who was suffering from a mysterious foot ailment - delivered a set, closing with a fiery version of "Volunteers." David Byrne inducted an MIA David Bowie with a long list of appellations for the Thin White Duke. Accepting for Bowie was the always-entertaining Madonna, who added to Byrne's list: "Excuse me, it's also about how fucking gorgeous he is!"

Harry Belefonte lauded folk singer Pete Seeger in the most in-depth speech of the evening. (Said Seeger in response, " ... ".) Backstage Billy Corgan spotted Seeger with the banjo that he has been playing since the '50s. "I asked him if I could have it," Corgan said, laughing. "He said no."

Among the warmest moments was a performance by the Shirelles, a collective vision in multicolored sequins. Beverly Lee sweetly accepted her statuette, then said in a bold voice "We deserve this! What took you so long?"

The notorious feuding that plagues Pink Floyd resulted in the absence of Roger Waters and, perhaps less surprisingly, the reclusive Syd Barrett. Said David Gilmour back at his table: "I haven't got a good formula for getting along. It's a bit like a marriage you know." Corgan, who inducted the band, joined them onstage, playing guitar on a stirring version of "Wish You Were Here."

Billy Corgan said on inducting Pink Floyd, "...When I was 17 years old my grandmother was diagnosed with cancer, and it was one of the most painful periods of my life, and the Pink Floyd song "Wish You Were Here" seemed to sum up everything that I was feeling. And when I couldn't take what was going on in my life with her dying, I listened to that song over and over, and it still makes me cry, it's such a beautiful song...".

The great Pumpkin noted he received a call from Gilmour at 4:30 that afternoon, inviting Corgan to sit in. They had one brief practice session an hour later. "I learned it with this weird Chinese fingering," said Corgan. "It was a little loosey-goosey." sounded great to us.

The soiree peaked with an inspired pairing: Stevie Wonder and Joan Osborne, who blew the roof off the dump with her mighty voice on "I Heard It Through the Grape Vine." (Where the hell was Gladys Knight?) The night ended with an all-star jam that included Arlo Guthrie, Wonder, Byrne, Gilmour and members of the airplane on Seeger's signature song, "Good Night Irene."

As the satisfied throng made for the exits, Peter Gabriel summed up the evening best. "I'm happy that rock & roll is being preserved for posterity," he said, "because pop culture tends to see only the moment and not the history."