List of most-viewed YouTube videos

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.
Billion View Club.
An early metric of a video's popularity was the so-called Billion View Club, videos which had succeeded in reaching over 1 billion views since their initial upload.
In December 2012, "Gangnam Style" became the first video to reach one billion views. By June 2015, only "Baby" had also managed to pass this threshold, but, by October 2015, a total of ten videos had done so, and the number grew further to 100 in February 2018. Considering older videos that pre-dated YouTube's creation in 2005 but were added later:
With numerous videos readily clearing one billion views by 2018, more interest has been on two and three-billion views and higher metrics. In May 2014, "Gangnam Style" became the first video to exceed two billion views. "Despacito" became the first video to reach three billion views in August 2017, four billion in October 2017, five billion in April 2018, six billion in February 2019 and seven billion in October 2020. "Baby Shark Dance" became the first video to reach eight billion views in February 2021.
, sixteen videos have exceeded three billion views, seven of which exceed four billion views, three of which exceed five billion views, two of which exceed six and seven billion views. "See You Again" became the second video to reach three billion views in August 2017, followed by "Gangnam Style" in November 2017. "Shape of You" became the second video to reach four billion views in January 2019, followed by "See You Again" in February 2019. "Baby Shark Dance" became the second video to reach five billion views in April 2020, followed by "Shape of You" in October 2020. "Baby Shark Dance" became the second video to reach six billion views in July 2020 and seven billion views in October 2020.
The majority of these videos in the Billion View Club have been commercial music videos by popular artists, but the list has included oddities, typically programs aimed at children. Such videos include two episodes of the Russian animated cartoon "Masha and the Bear", a version of "The Wheels on the Bus" by the British animation studio Little Baby Bum, and "Johny Johny Yes Papa" from Indian children's stations LooLoo Kids and ChuChu TV. Various versions of the song "Baby Shark" in total amassed more than five billion views by January 2019, with the original version posted by Pinkfong having exceeded two billion views previously. The original video by Pinkfong is now the most viewed video on the site. On October 29, 2020, Baby Shark surpassed 7 billion views, and on November 2, it passed Despacito to become the most viewed video on YouTube. 
Top videos.
The following table lists the top 30 most-viewed videos on YouTube, with each total rounded to the nearest 10 million views, uploader and upload date.
By year of release.
The following table lists the current top 5 most viewed YouTube videos uploaded in each year, with each total rounded to the nearest 10 million views, uploader and upload date.
Ed Sheeran has the most appearances on the list with three. icanrockyourworld (2007), Linkin Park (2007), Queen (2008), Guns N' Roses (2009), Ed Sheeran (2017) and Cocomelon – Nursery Rhymes (2018) have two videos in the top 5 of a single year, with the English and Spanish versions of Gummibär's The Gummy Bear Song being in the top five videos of 2007.
Historical most-viewed videos.
The following table lists the videos that became YouTube's most-viewed video, from April 2005 to the present.
Timeline of most viewed videos (Oct 2005 – Nov 2020)
No. 1 most viewed video (Oct 2005 – Jun 2006)
No. 1 most viewed video (Apr 2006 – Jan 2010)
No. 1 most viewed video (Oct 2009 – Jan 2013)
No. 1 most viewed video (Jan 2012 – Feb 2021)