She has only just begun. Forbes has her ranked at #4 in her first appearance on the list
LOS ANGELES -- Getting famous is easy. Just ask Kate Gosselin or Kim Kardashian--who each appeared on more than 20 magazine covers between June 2009 and June 2010.
But getting rich and famous is something different. And few stars have done it as quickly or as well as Lady Gaga. Her first album, aptly titled The Fame, dropped in 2008. This year she debuts at No. 4 on our annual Celebrity 100 list.Gaga's success is a mixture of extreme theatricality, catchy hooks and an image that is edgy, yet business friendly. Sure Gaga might drip fake blood on stage, make out with women in her videos and encourage Internet rumors that she is a hermaphrodite. But she does it all in a way that doesn't scare off corporate sponsors. Yes, she wore a dress made out of Kermit the Frog dolls, but you won't see her stumbling drunk and high out of a nightclub at 4 a.m. (Though she recently caused some controversy for allegedly being drunk at a Yankees game.)