Michael Jackson, not Asha Bhosle, is announced as global music icon

Pop king Michael Jackson has been named the top global music icon of the past 50 years in a poll conducted by CNN. British pop group The Beatles, late Canto pop sensation Leslie Cheung, rock `n` roller Elvis Presley and Reggae godfather Bob Marley also made to the top five. The list had Asha Bhosle, who began her career in playback singing in the shadow of her elder sister Lata Mangeshkar, in the long list of 20.

Washington: Pop king Michael Jackson has been named the top global music icon of the past 50 years in a poll conducted by CNN.

One Year of Michael Jackson’s death» "Almost 100,000 of you voted to tell us that the self-styled king of pop, who died suddenly in June 2009, is the musician you rate above all others," the news magazine said. British pop groupThe Beatles, late Canto pop sensation Leslie Cheung, rock `n` roller Elvis Presley and Reggae godfather Bob Marley also made to the top five. No female artists made the list which had India`s Asha Bhosle in the long list of 20, although US pop queen Madonna came in at number six, narrowly missing a place. Asha, 76, who began her career in playback singing in the shadow of her elder sister Lata Mangeshkar, first gained popularity with Maang Ke Saath Tumhara in Dilip Kumar-Vaijayatimala starrer Naya Daur in 1957. She has given some of the greatest hits with her music composer husband RD Burman, who was instrumental in directing some of her biggest hits like O Haseena and Piya Tu Aab to Aaja. Last month CNN`s arts and culture program, Icon, asked viewers to vote for their top five most iconic musicians of all time. The list included Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Bob Marley, Celia Cruz, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Madonna, Arabic superstar Khaled and sufi legend Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, among others. One Year of Michael Jackson’s death» -PTI