A 15-stone lesbian activist from Arkansas is now the coolest figure in rock, according to the annual list published by NME.

The “rock goddess” is back, declared the weekly publication after revealing its annual Cool List, compiled at the discretion of its editorial team.

Pete Doherty has lost his lustre while Alex Turner, the frontman of Arctic Monkeys, who topped last year’s poll, is now about as welcome as a Genesis reunion.

The NME Cool Icon is Beth Ditto, a larger-than-life punk feminist who fronts the Gossip, an American band. Her vocals have been compared to Janis Joplin’s.

Jonathan Ross invited the band on to his chat show to perform their single Standing In The Way of Control, an attack on Republican politicians’ opposition to gay marriage.

Ditto provoked controversy after saying that she was not surprised by shootings among pupils in US schools because depressed teenagers did not get the help they needed from the authorities.

The NME Cool List Top Ten:

1 Beth Ditto, The Gossip
2 Faris Rotter, The Horrors
3 Lily Allen
4 Jarvis Cocker
5 Karen O, Yeah Yeah Yeahs
6 Kieren Webster, The View
7 Kate Jackson, The Long Blondes
8 Gerard Way, My Chemical Romance
9 Thom Yorke, Radiohead
10 Lovefoxxx, CSS

Explore Music

• CD Reviews

• Live Reviews

• Classical

Editor's choice

• The 100 Best Films of the Decade
• 70 facts you didn't know about Marvel
• The 50 Biggest Movies Of 2010