The 47-year-old "King of Pop," who is living in exile in Bahrain following his acquittal last June on child sex charges, snatched the dishonour for the fourth year running, according to a survey by a US public relations consultant.

Sixty-nine percent of the 1,045 people polled in a random telephone survey ahead of Saturday's April Fool's day said the singer had "done something foolish" in the past year that merited the title, the poll showed.