Lady Gaga named top Billboard artist

Ubiquitous pop star Lady Gaga has been named top artist of the year by Billboard, just one year after the music magazine named her best newcomer.

The singer known for her outrageous outfits and growing gay rights advocacy is to releaseher new albumBorn This Way in 2011, but rode high in 2010 on hits such as Bad Romance.

Canadian artists Drake and Justin Bieber also earned spots on Billboard's top 10 artists' list, which is based on chart performance throughout the year.

Billboard chose 23-year-old pop singer Ke$ha as its best newcomer.

Taylor Swift, the country crossover artist whose latest album is Speak Now, was chosen as the No. 2 artist overall, after topping the list in 2009.

Here's the Top 10 determined by Billboard:

1. Lady Gaga.
2. Taylor Swift.
3. Eminem.
4. Lady Antebellum.
5. Ke$ha.
6. Usher.
7. The Black Eyed Peas.
8. Justin Bieber.
9. Rihanna.
10. Drake.

Bieber's My World 2.0 earned the sixth spot on Billboard's hot 200 album list for the year, behind Eminem's Recovery, Lady Antebellum's Need You Now and Lady Gaga's The Fame.

Susan Boyle, the British singing sensation discovered by reality TV, topped the album charts with I Dreamed a Dream.