"Gangnam Style" by South Korean pop star PSY remains the most watched music video on YouTube ever, with over 2.76 billion views worldwide. The wacky dance video sensation beats out clips from some of the world's most popular singers, including Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift and Adele.
PSY's 'Gangnam Style Took The World By Storm In 2012
It's hard to believe it's been less than five years since PSY graced the screens of the world's devices with his superviral video hit "Gangnam Style." The Korean pop artist's wacky dance moves to the song's cheesy but infectious dance beats swept the nation and beyond in the summer of 2012, soon becoming the fastest video ever to hit 1 billion views on YouTube.
Although his follow up "Gentleman" also managed to capture over 1 billion YouTube views, PSY could technically be considered a one hit wonder. It's generally accepted that the song "Gentleman" itself was a relative flop, and that the huge video view count was mainly a result of curious fans initially hoping lightning might strike again for the artist. Although it didn't, he's still around, recording and making entertaining videos like the recent "Daddy." The name PSY, however, has pretty much dropped off the pop culture hit list and is widely regarded as a past novelty.
'Gangnam Style' Remains Most Watched YouTube Music Video Ever
That doesn't mean "Gangnam Style" itself hasn't got some legs, and that's proven by the fact that the clip for the song still remains the most viewed YouTube music video ever, beating out subsequent releases by big stars like Adele, Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber. While many observers would guess one of those popular celebrities would have overtaken PSY's "Gangnam Style" by now, it just hasn't happened. In fact, the closest challenger to PSY has been from Wiz Khalifa, whose "See You Again" ft. Charlie Puth from the Furious 7 Soundtrack now boasts 2.45 billion views worldwide.
Many thought Adele would be the one to overtake PSY with her smash hit video for the song "Hello." The clip actually reached 1 billion views in half the time it took PSY to do so, but then stalled. The video now has 1.88 billion views worldwide, almost a full billion less than what "Gangnam Style" has racked up.
While Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry and Fifth Harmony all have more than one music video with over a billion worldwide views, none of those artists has ever cracked 2 billion, let alone the almost 3 billion PSY has already delivered. In the fast moving, commercial, and image-driven social media culture of 2017, there's something comforting about that, and we hope PSY's somewhat naïve but super fun and completely sincere "Gangnam Style" clip remains tops in views for a long time to come. You can help it stay there by reminiscing to the track 2012 style once again, posted below.
