The Roar hitmaker is the leading lady on the new countdown, ranking third ahead of boxers Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, with a $135 million (£84.375 million) windfall from the past year.

She shared the new Forbes cover shot with fans on Instagram.com on Monday night (29Jun15) and revealed what motivated her to agree to the publishing honour.

She wrote, "Before accepting the offer to be on the cover of Forbes, I was told that a lot of women have previously shied away from doing it. I wondered if it was because they thought socially it would look like they were flaunting or bragging or it wasn't a humble decision.

"Ladies, there is a difference between being humble and working hard to see the fruits of your labor blossom, and your dreams realized. Hopefully this cover can be an inspiration to women out there that it's okay to be proud of hard earned success and that there is no shame in being a boss."

Despite raking in millions last year, Perry chose a more low-key way to mark her new Forbes list spot, confessing, "Don't think I didn't celebrate this moment by going straight to (fast food restaurant) Taco Bell and getting my crunch wrap supreme".

Boy band One Direction and U.S. shock jock Howard Stern close out the Forbes top five, while Iron Man star Robert Downey, Jr., Perry's pop rival Taylor Swift and country star Garth Brooks are also included in the top 10.