The Most Viewed YouTube Videos of All Time

Few people realize that the first video ever uploaded to YouTube was an 18-second clip titled “Me at the zoo.” Shot by a friend of YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim at the San Diego Zoo, the video — which is still online — is a quick monologue about elephants with large trunks.

That was in 2005. Less than a year after YouTube’s founding, Google bought the company for $1.65 billion. In the years that followed, YouTube became available in countries outside the U.S. and also launched an HD option. Gamers and vloggers had the earliest success from the debut of ad revenue.

Today, YouTube is the leader in online video hosting, with 300 hours of video uploaded each minute and almost 5 billion videos watched each day. However, the site’s most popular videos have nothing to do with elephants or even zoos. Shockingly, they aren’t vlogs, beauty tutorials, or Vine compilations, either. Music videos dominate the top 100 videos on the platform. And in 2012, Psy’s “Gangnam Style” was the first YouTube video ever to hit one billion views.

That music videos are the most popular type of video on YouTube comes as no surprise. Videos like Drake’s “God’s Plan” and even older ones like Kanye’s “Bound 2” give music fans the ability to associate a stunning visual with their favorite tracks. Of course, if they don’t like the video, this can backfire—but that certainly isn’t the case with some of the most watched videos on YouTube.

Although it’s likely that a lot of music video views come from people simply playing the music without necessarily watching their screen, YouTube has overall proven that even in a post-video-MTV world, music videos are still an incredibly popular form of content. Check out the Most Viewed YouTube Videos below.

Note: View counts as of 2/21/2018

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10. Enrique Iglesias f/ Descemer Beuno and Gente De Zona - "Bailando"

Video via YouTube

View Count: 2,472,298,110​
Released: April 11, 2014

Enrique Iglesias’ flamenco-meets-reggaeton “Bailando” got a dance-worthy video directed by Alejandro Perez. The video includes Cuban singer Descemer Beuno, Cuban reggaeton band Gente de Zona, and dancers from Havana's Ballet Litz Alfonso.

9. Taylor Swift - "Shake It Off"

Video via YouTube

View Count: 2,509,105,481
Released: August 18, 2014

Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” is hard to forget. The message was further instilled by the Mark Romanek-directed music video, where Taylor quite literally dances her troubles away with various crews.

8. Maroon 5 - "Sugar"

Video via YouTube

View Count: 2,518,767,344 ​
Released: January 14, 2015

Maroon 5’s “surprise” performances of “Sugar” to multiple couples getting married in Los Angeles over the course of one day created the material for this now-famous music video. Directed by David Dobkin, the video is a heart-warming celebration of love.

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7. Get Movies - "Masha and the Bear: Recipe for Disaster"

Video via YouTube

View Count: 2,863,646,972​
Released: January 31, 2012

If there is an outlier on this list, it’s “Masha and the Bear: Recipe for Disaster,” an episode from the Russian animated series. There’s Masha, a bear, some field hockey, some porridge, and a few other details that make no sense to us, but are clearly a big hit with the kids.

6. Justin Bieber - "Sorry" (PURPOSE : The Movement)

Video via YouTube

View Count: 2,887,775,701​
Released: October 22, 2015

Instead of the usual pop video, Justin Bieber recruited dancers from New Zealand’s ReQuest Dance Crew and The Royal Family Dance Crew to star in his “Sorry” video. Directed by Parris Goebel, who also appears in the video, “Sorry” has brighter, happier visuals to make up for the apologetic lyrics.

5. Mark Ronson f/ Bruno Mars - "Uptown Funk"

Video via YouTube

View Count: 2,959,384,661
Released: November 19, 2014

Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars have proven themselves to be a dream team, and “Uptown Funk” is certainly no exception. Directed by Bruno and Cameron Duddy, the “Uptown Funk” video is packed with Bruno’s street dancing and some head-nodding appearances from Mark Ronson.

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4. Psy - "Gangnam Style"

Video via YouTube

View Count: 3,102,131,944​
Released: July 15, 2012

Psy’s “Gangnam Style” video, directed by Cho Soo-hyun, will forever be remembered for being the first-ever YouTube video to reach 1 billion views. Whether you contributed to hose views or not, there was no escaping the “Gangnam Style” dance move or electropop song when it came out.

3. Ed Sheeran - "Shape of You"

Video via YouTube

View Count: 3,277,067,678​
Released: January 30, 2017

Arguably Ed Sheeran’s biggest hit to date, “Shape of You” had high stakes for its music video. Directed by Jason Koenig, “Shape of You” follows the singer to a boxing gym, where he meets and falls in love with a fellow boxer.

2. Wiz Khalifa f/ Charlie Puth - “See You Again”

Video via YouTube

View Count: 3,418,382,711​
Released: April 6, 2015

Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth contributed the song “See You Again” to the Fast and Furious 7 soundtrack. The video serves as a tribute to the late Furious 7 actor Paul Walker. Directed by Marc Klasfeld, the video features clips of Walker from previous Fast and Furious films interspersed with clips of Wiz and Puth.

1. Luis Fonsi ft. Daddy Yankee - "Despacito"

Video via YouTube

View Count: 4,856,310,198​
Released: January 12, 2017

“Despacito” is a video that took the world by storm, thanks to the song’s catchy melodies that resonate beyond understanding of the Spanish language (a Justin Bieber remix helped a bit, too). Directed by Carlos Perez, the video features steamy dance scenes in a Puerto Rican club

Blog Credit http://www.complex.com/life/most-viewed-youtube-videos/despacito