Time Magazines 100 Most Influential People Announced

Gordon Brown, Boris Johnson and Michael Eavis are among the most influential 100 figures in the world, according to Time Magazine's annual list.

Gordon Brown manages to feature twice as all entrants have a profile written about them by a third party.  Mr. Brown's honour was to write the profile for President Barack Obama.

They take their places on the list alongside an ecletic mix of individuals who have made an impact over the last year.  These include the Michelle Obama, the founders of Twitter, Jack Dorsey and Biz Stone, Jay Leno, Tiger Woods and a couple of other Brits, Kate Winslett and Stella McCartney - and unpredictable, such as the Mexican drug baron Joaquin Guzman and Bernie Madoff, the man who raised the bar for investor fraud.

Congratulations must go to Michael Eavis, the founder of the Glastonbury festival. In a profile of the Somerset dairy farmer, Chris Martin of Coldplay who went to boarding school nearby, wrote that he owed Eavis “my life and career”, which gives some indication as to the impact the Glastonbury festival and Michael Eavis had had on music and festival culture across the world.

Time magazine also commissioned an online poll to go with the list. This resulted in a suprise, unknown headliner, “moot”, the 21-year-old college student also known as Christopher Poole is best known for the phenomenon of “rickrolling”, the internet prank which led to Rick Astley being voted an improbably “best act ever” at the MTV Music Awards Europe. Moot’s profile was written, naturally, by Rick Astley.