Madonna and Janet Jackson records topple Britney

LONDON - Madonna's pay-packet, Janet Jackson's malfunctioning wardrobe, Hillary Clinton's memoirs and Sigourney Weaver's height all have one thing in common - they're world record breakers.

Veteran pop singer Madonna supplants younger rival Britney Spears in the latest edition of Guinness World Records, winning the title of highest annual earnings by a female singer after she took home an estimated US$50 million ($76.5m) in 2004.

Despite the relentless media coverage of her personal life, Spears is also unseated by another 40-something as the world's most searched-for person and most searched-for news item on the internet.

She loses those top spots to pop diva Janet Jackson who also gets credit for the largest ever fine imposed on a broadcaster after one of her breasts was exposed live on air.

The most wanted man on internet search engine Google in 2005 was Hollywood heart-throb Brad Pitt, according to the star-studded 2007 version of the Guinness World Records book which goes on sale on Friday.

In the world of publishing, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton holds the title for fastest-selling non-fiction book after her memoirs sold 200,000 copies on day one.

Not to be outdone, her husband, former US President Bill Clinton, also clinches a place for the largest advance for a work of non-fiction.

Oscar winning movie star Nicole Kidman is another top earner, holding the record for the most money paid per minute to an actor after she earned a reported $3.71 million (NZ$5.67) for a four-minute commercial for Chanel No.5 perfume.

Elsewhere, chat show host Oprah Winfrey is the highest paid person on television, Cher's 2005 "Farewell Tour" was the highest grossing music tour by a female artist and Irish rock band U2 were the biggest earning act in the world last year.

As for the downsides of stardom, modern celebrities have yet to match Errol Flynn's real-life courtroom performances which saw him jailed a record four times.

And if you've ever wondered who are the biggest people strutting Hollywood's sidewalks, Clint Eastwood, Vince Vaughn and British horror actor Christopher Lee are its tallest leading men at 6 foot 4 inches.

At 6 foot, Hollywood's tallest leading women are Alien star Sigourney Weaver, Brigitte Neilsen and Oscar-winner Geena Davis, who also starred in the world's biggest ever box-office flop, Cutthroat Island.

- REUTERS