Friday, 29 September 2006

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Madonna tops Britney's Guinness record

Mrs Ritchie is highest paid female singer in the world

The 2007 edition of the Guinness Book of Records names Madonna as the highest paid female singer on the planet.

Madonna, who earned $50 million in 2004, takes the title away from Britney Spears, who had held the record since 2001 after earning slightly more than $38 million in 2000.

Janet Jackson also replaced Spears in Web rankings for the world's most searched-for female and most searched-for news item.

Among men, Brad Pitt was the most searched-for.

Elsewhere in the book: Nicole Kidman set the record for the highest salary per minute for an actor (a reported $3.71 million for a four-minute commercial for Chanel No. 5) and Oprah Winfrey is named the highest-paid person on TV ($225 million, according to the last Forbes power ranking).

American Idol star Simon Cowell is the highest paid TV talent-show judge (about $34 million), while Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has the highest annual earnings for a children's author, with an estimated $64 million.