The public is currently voting who should be listed as most influential for TIME magazine, and out of all her contemporaries, Lady Gaga has the highest percentage of "YES" votes.
Because pop is boring without her, even when she's putting out music that doesn't resonate with the GP.
They love the fact that she's a pop star with big talent, the same reason Bey is coming second in the poll.
All it took was ONE killer performance (The Oscars) to remind people, I guess.