The first video to hit 1 billion views on YouTube was PSY's "Gangnam Style" in December 2012, while Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" was the oldest song (1970s) to reach that milestone, achieving it in 2019, and ABBA's "Dancing Queen" (1976) also joined the billion-view club in 2025, proving classic music's digital power.
An early metric of a video's popularity was the so-called Billion-View Club, denoting 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.
“Gangnam Style” by South Korean musician PSY became the first YouTube video to reach 1 billion views. By the end of 2012, the song had topped music charts in more than 30 countries around the world.
PSY's 'Gangnam Style' isn't just a song, it's a global phenomenon. Released in 2012, it became the first YouTube video to hit 1 billion views, proving the massive reach of viral music.
Almost all of these songs are found in the Billions Club playlist:
Over the course of Elvis' life, he achieved some of the highest accolades in music and film. It is estimated that more than one billion Elvis records have been sold worldwide, more than anyone in record industry history.
The Minecraft community has crushed one trillion views on YouTube. Celebrate this huge milestone with a look back at some of the biggest moments in Minecraft history.
Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Music Videos of All Time
A revised version was published in July 2021 in celebration of MTV's 40th anniversary, with Beyoncé's "Formation" (2016) being named the greatest music video of all time.
Taylor Swift is the highest-grossing live music artist of all time, collecting $3 billion according to Pollstar. U2, Coldplay, Bruce Springsteen, and Elton John also passed two-billion mark in concert revenue.
Fun Fact: Garth Brooks is the only artist in history to have nine albums certified Diamond… More than The Beatles, Elvis, Drake, and Taylor Swift… COMBINED.