The List

Cyberspace, it seems, helps substantiate John Lennon’s shocking 1965 claim that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. Decades later, pop stars are still heavenly in their own way. The darling of darlings has changed, though; today it’s the Irish band U2 that eclipses the still popular Liverpudlians.

We used America Online’s NetFind browser as a measuring tool; here are the number of links to Web sites for a few of pop music’s iconic figures:

U2: 67,149

Elvis: 54,795

The Beatles: 52,980

Hanson: 39,045

Madonna: 36,487

Nirvana: 19,826

Bono: 14,127

Spice Girls: 14,010

Rolling Stones: 13,300

Bob Dylan: 13,200

John Lennon: 8,650

Michael Jackson: 8,410

Bruce Springsteen: 6,660

(Jesus Christ: 40,390))