Madonna Tops Britney's Guinness Record

By Stephen M. Silverman

09/29/2006 at 08:00 AM EDT

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.