The 27-year-old came first in the annual ranking, which is determined by earnings, social media influence and press mentions, largely thanks to the star's 'Born This Way' world tour grossing a massive USD 168 million, despite it being cut short due to her hip injury.
The eccentric performer, who also ranked second on Forbes' Most Powerful Celebrities list, is a prolific social media user and communicates daily with her 38.5 million Twitter fans and 57.9 million Facebook fans, who she calls her 'Little Monsters'.
Taylor Swift was fourth thanks to the smash success of her new album 'Red', while rockers Bon Jovi, powered by their 'Because We Can' tour, came in at number five, and social media whizz Justin Bieber was sixth.
Coldplay were the only British artists to feature in the American-dominated Top 10, after their world tour made them USD 3 million per performance.