Rihanna named top pop artist

RIHANNA has spoken of her pride after editors at Billboard.com named her the top pop artist of the last 20 years.

The Umbrella hitmaker bagged first place in the countdown ahead of Pink and Britney Spears, who came in second and third, respectively.

Kelly Clarkson landed fourth place, while Mariah Carey rounded out the top five - and the Bajan beauty is overjoyed with her latest accolade.

In a series of posts on her Twitter.com page, she writes, "Billboard crowned me #1 top 40 artist of the decade just 7 years into this!!... HistoRIH (sic)."

Katy Perry, Usher, the Black Eyed Peas, Janet Jackson and Madonna made up the rest of the top 10.