July 11-17: Rihanna Is The New Queen Of Facebook, Beating Out Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga may be he top earning woman in music, have more followers on Twitter than any other lady rock star and receive more media coverage than her female competitors, but she is no longer the queen of Facebook.

This week, Rihanna accumulated enough likes on Facebook to surpass Lady Gaga and claim the throne as the platform's top ranking female celebrity.

According to their Facebook stats, as of Saturday, Rihanna had 40,699,853 likes, and Lady Gaga had 40,611,908, giving the "Rude Boy" singer a lead of 88,000.

Shakira is the diva with the third most Facebook followers, according to Famecount.com, which credits the Latina singer with 37 million likes. Aside from being the top three female musicians on Facebook, they also have earned spots in Facebook's top 10 pages overall. Rihanna, Lady Gaga, and Shakira hold the No. 5, 6, and 8, positions, respectively.

There are three men on the Top Facebook Pages Worldwide list as well. Eminem ranks No. 3 with 43,367,713 likes. The late Michael Jackson sits at No. 7 with 38,069,882 likes, and "Baby" singer Justin Bieber holds the No. 10 position with 33,035,903 likes.

Numbers, stats, and figures were also the subject of another news story this week involving a popular female entertainer. Matthew Knowles, father and former manager of Beyoncé, filled legal papers in Texas, alleging his daughter's new management team accused him of stealing money from her, claims he vehemently denies. And in even more shocking family news, power couple Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony announced their plans to divorce, a month after their seventh anniversary.

Pop star Jewel and her husband, Ty Murray, fortunately, have a happier home front. This week, they announced the birth of their son, Kase Townes. And legendary music shero Cher sang Lady Gaga's praises this week after recording for her new album "The Greatest Thing," a song written and produced for her by Gaga and RedOne.

For more details on these music stories, see the links below, and be sure to check back with us next week for another music news roundup. See you then.