Forbes Magazine names Lady Gaga as top celebrity
US pop sensation Lady Gaga has dethroned chat show Queen Oprah Winfrey to stake a claim to the top spot in Forbes magazine’s annual list of the world’s top 100 celebrities.
Gaga’s ranking boost came on the back of a stellar year which saw the flamboyant star became the first Twitter user to breach 10m followers and racked up 32m Facebook fans.
Forbes editor Dorothy Pomerantz said: “Lady Gaga beat Oprah this year because of her social media power. She's the best example of how celebrities will need to manage their careers in the coming years.”
The list aims to quantify celebrity “power” through analysis of entertainment earnings, media visibility and poularity on social media.
Winfrey was relegated to second slot in the list with Justin Bieber debuting in third place and U2 squeezing into fourth spot.
Veteran singer Elton John was ranked in fifth position