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Sitting on a bed framed with bare-chested men and McCartney at her side, Paltrow, 32, said: "She's made it okay to be sexual as a woman." Meanwhile, McCartney said her pal "doesn't compromise – that's why she's had such staying power." The designer also said about the get-up: "And you look a lot better in this than we do."
Accepting the award in person, Madonna, 46, used colorful English slang to reveal how much of a Brit she has become since settling in the country with her husband, director Guy Ritchie. If anyone had told the Michigan native when she was growing up that she would "one day be married to a Brit, and living in England and be inducted into the UK Hall of Fame, I would have said bollocks to that!"
She added, "I am also grateful for people who have stuck their necks out and taken a few slaps. I have taken a slap or two myself. I must say I don't regret it a bit. In fact, I am grateful for the slaps. I know you are thinking that she would say something like that. I am grateful that I had something to say that provoked them."
Most of all, she admitted, "I am grateful that people were listening and that people still are listening so thank you for this."
Besides Madonna, the full inaugural Hall of Fame lineup, chosen by the public, included The Beatles, Bob Marley, Elvis Presley, U2, Cliff Richard, the Rolling Stones, Queen, Michael Jackson and Robbie Williams.
Rita Marley accepted on behalf of her late husband, while Priscilla Presley did the same for hers. She said the King would be "deeply grateful for this recognition," and "although he became a global star, he never did a world tour – he particularly hoped to tour Europe."
No one collected the viewers' prize for Michael Jackson, whose trial on child-abuse charges is due to begin in California Jan. 31.
