Madonna is music's No.1 earner

The Guinness Book of Records reported last night that the figure now makes her the top-ranking female singing artist in terms of earnings.

She has now knocked Britney Spears off the number one spot. Britney has been on top - earning £20.5million a year - since 2001.

The latest figures are for the 2004 financial year when Madonna completed her Reinvention world tour. And her lead is expected to grow. Early figures for this year's tour - Confessions, which finished last week - show it to be the top-earning series of concerts ever by a female artist.

The 60-date tour, which was seen by more than a million fans, grossed £107.2million - a figure which eclipsed Cher's record of £106.9million for her 273-date Farewell tour that ran from 2002-2005. Madonna's accompanying album earned her £35million.

Success, of course, is nothing new for Madonna. She is already the most successful female chart act of all time in the U.S. and UK with worldwide album sales of more than 200million since her first hit, Holiday, in January 1984.

She has also had more UK No. 1 singles and albums than any other female solo artist. But success has, it seems, had its downside.

Madonna's six-year marriage to the film director Guy Ritchie - with whom she lives in Marylebone, Central London - has had to endure rocky times recently, blamed in part on her punishing work schedule. While her career has continued to flourish, Ritchie's has languished and his recent films have been critically panned.

Madonna and her husband are estimated to be worth £248million. As well as the £7million London home, they have a Beverly Hills mansion worth £8million and a rambling £9million Wiltshire estate.

They have a fleet of cars including a Maybach, Audi A8s, Range Rovers and Madonna's own beloved Mini Cooper S.

The Guinness Book of Records last night revealed other records, these ones all relating to 2005. They included James Blunt's album Back to Bedlam scooping the award for the most albums sold in a year in the UK with 2,368,000 copies. Jamie Oliver emerged as the highest-paid chef with an estimated annual income of £4.8million and Ricky Gervais has the most downloaded podcast.

JK Rowling keeps her record for the highest annual earnings for a children's author at an estimated £34.2million.

Peter Jackson's remake of King Kong also smashed the box office record for the most expensive movie ever made at £108million.