* Adding almost 100,000 new likes per day, brings MJ's 20-month reign at Facebook to an end

* Eminem forecast to be first person in history achieve 30m Facebook likes, next week. 

MUMBAI: Eminem has overtaken Michael Jackson to become the most popular person -- living or dead -- on Facebook, according to Famecount.com, the social media statistics service. Famecount reported last week how Eminem had dethroned Lady Gaga to become the most popular living star on Facebook; only the late Michael Jackson outranked the US rapper in Facebook popularity then. Now, even the King of Pop himself has relinquished the top spot, unable to keep pace with the deluge of Eminem fans flocking to the US rapper's Facebook page.

Eminem has been averaging almost 100,000 new Facebook "likes" per day, almost twice the number of Michael Jackson. Eminem now stands as the most popular person, living or dead, on Facebook, with 29,389,321 likes at around 9am GMT on 1st March. Famecount predicts that in about a week, Eminem will be the first person in history to achieve 30m Facebook likes.

Eminem's rise brings to an end Michael Jackson's long reign at the top of Facebook. The Thriller star overtook Barack Obama to claim the top spot with 7 million fans in July 2009 - riding an extraordinary wave of support following his death on 25 June that year. And throughout the last 20 months Michael Jackson successfully held his lead despite serious challenge from Lady Gaga. Yet, even he has been unable to withstand the Eminem juggernaut.

Now, with the top spot on Facebook secured, Eminem fans will be turning their attention to YouTube, where the star is in third place, and Twitter, where Eminem remains in 29th place, a long way behind Lady Gaga.

Groovecount.com's aggregated social media ranking of music stars places Eminem second in the world, behind Lady Gaga.

Top stars on Facebook - Total Fans  (1st March)

1-Eminem - 29,389,321

2-Michael Jackson - 29,355,012

3-Lady Gaga - 29,149,885

4-Rihanna - 25,757,382

5-Linkin Park - 23,607,490

6-Shakira - 22,410,403

7-Justin Bieber - 22,159,703

8-Megan Fox - 21,095,299

9-Vin Diesel - 20,893,976

10-Cristiano Ronaldo - 20,680,834