YouTube is an American video-sharing website headquartered in San Bruno, California. Although the most-viewed videos were initially viral videos, such as “Evolution of Dance” and “Charlie Bit My Finger”, the most-viewed videos were increasingly related to music videos. Since Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” in 2009, every video that has reached the top of the “most-viewed YouTube videos” list has been a music video. Although some of the previously most-viewed videos are no longer listed on the site, reaching the top of the list is still considered a tremendous feat.
In November 2005, a Nike advertisement featuring Brazilian football player Ronaldinho became the first video to reach one million views.[1]
| No. | Video name | Uploader | Views (billions) | Upload date | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | “Baby Shark Dance“[22] | Pinkfong Kids’ Songs & Stories | 9.02 | June 17, 2016 | [B] | |
| 2. | “Despacito“[24] | Luis Fonsi | 7.46 | January 12, 2017 | [C] | |
| 3. | “Johny Johny Yes Papa“[25] | LooLoo Kids | 5.58 | October 8, 2016 | [D] | |
| 4. | “Shape of You“[26] | Ed Sheeran | 5.40 | January 30, 2017 | [E] | |
| 5. | “See You Again“[27] | Wiz Khalifa | 5.19 | April 6, 2015 | [F] | |
| 6. | “Masha and the Bear – Recipe for Disaster”[30] | Get Movies | 4.45 | January 31, 2012 | [G] | |
| 7. | “Bath Song”[31] | Cocomelon – Nursery Rhymes | 4.37 | May 2, 2018 | [H] | |
| 8. | “Learning Colors – Colorful Eggs on a Farm”[32] | Miroshka TV | 4.31 | February 27, 2018 | [I] | |
| 9. | “Uptown Funk“[33] | Mark Ronson | 4.24 | November 19, 2014 | [J] | |
| 10. | “Gangnam Style“[34] | Psy | 4.13 | July 15, 2012 | [K] | |
| 11. | “Phonics Song with Two Words”[36] | ChuChu TV | 4.02 | March 6, 2014 | ||
| 12. | “Sugar“[37] | Maroon 5 | 3.51 | January 14, 2015 | ||
| 13. | “Dame Tu Cosita“[38] | El Chombo | 3.48 | April 5, 2018 | ||
| 14. | “Sorry“[39] | Justin Bieber | 3.45 | October 22, 2015 | ||
| 15. | “Roar“[40] | Katy Perry | 3.39 | September 5, 2013 | ||
| 16. | “Counting Stars“[41] | OneRepublic | 3.35 | May 31, 2013 | ||
| 17. | “Thinking Out Loud“[42] | Ed Sheeran | 3.29 | October 7, 2014 | ||
| 18. | “Wheels on the Bus”[43] | Cocomelon – Nursery Rhymes | 3.18 | May 24, 2018 | ||
| 19. | “Dark Horse“[44] | Katy Perry | 3.11 | February 20, 2014 | ||
| 20. | “Faded“[45] | Alan Walker | 3.10 | December 3, 2015 | ||
| 21. | “Shake It Off“[46] | Taylor Swift | 3.08 | August 18, 2014 | ||
| 22. | “Girls Like You“[47] | Maroon 5 | 3.08 | May 31, 2018 | ||
| 23. | “Lean On“[48] | Major Lazer | 3.07 | March 22, 2015 | ||
| 24. | “Bailando“[49] | Enrique Iglesias | 3.07 | April 11, 2014 | ||
| 25. | “Let Her Go“[50] | Passenger | 3.03 | July 25, 2012 | ||
| 26. | “Mi Gente“[51] | J Balvin | 2.95 | June 29, 2017 | ||
| 27. | “Perfect“[52] | Ed Sheeran | 2.90 | November 9, 2017 | ||
| 28. | “Axel F“[53] | Crazy Frog | 2.90 | June 16, 2009 | ||
| 29. | “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)“[54] | Shakira | 2.89 | June 4, 2010 | ||
| 30. | “Hello“[55] | Adele | 2.86 | October 22, 2015 | ||
| As of July 24, 2021 | ||||||