YouTube Reveals Most-Watched Videos of the Decade: Did Your Fave Make It?
71 YouTube unveiled its list of the top music videos of every decade from the 1980s to the 2010s on Thursday (Dec. 12).
As the most-viewed video in YouTube history, it should come as no surprise that Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's "Despacito" tops the 2010s with more than 6.5 billion views. Meanwhile, Ed Sheeran is the only artist with multiple entries on the decade's list, with 2017's "Shape of You" and 2014's "Thinking Out Loud" clocking in at numbers two and 10, respectively.
The rest of the 2010s list is rounded out by the likes of Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth ("See You Again"), Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars ("Uptown Funk"), Psy ("Gangnam Style"), Justin Bieber ("Sorry"), Maroon 5 ("Sugar"), Katy Perry ("Roar") and OneRepublic ("Counting Stars").
Meanwhile, Guns N' Roses reigns over both the '80s and '90s thanks to "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "November Rain," both of which have garnered more than 1 billion views. Coming in at Nos. 2 and 3 on the '80s list are A-ha's still-infectious "Take On Me" and Cyndi Lauper's iconic "Girls Just Want to Have Fun"; Nirvana's classic "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and The Cranberries' gritty smash "Zombie" were the second and third most-watched of the '90s.
However, the most-viewed video of the 2000s comes straight out of left field: Crazy Frog's cover of electronic instrumental hit "Axel F" by Harold Faltermeyer. The 2005 novelty track beat out both Linkin Park's "Numb" and Lady Gaga's iconic "Bad Romance" visual for the top spot — but all three videos, along with Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me" (which was No. 4), have all racked up more than 1 billion views.
Check out the complete rankings by decade below.
YouTube's Most-Viewed Music Videos By Decade
1980s
|
|
Video |
Views |
|
1. |
1,026,321,298 |
|
|
2. |
966,018,153 |
|
|
3. |
797,474,019 |
|
|
4. |
717,041,719 |
|
|
5. |
716,451,277 |
|
|
6. |
711,308,154 |
|
|
7. |
659,549,359 |
|
|
8. |
635,999,230 |
|
|
9. |
635,482,194 |
|
|
10. |
628,591,927 |
1990s
|
|
|
|
|
1. |
1,275,474,139 |
|
|
2. |
990,292,925 |
|
|
3. |
976,606,183 |
|
|
4. |
883,325,731 |
|
|
5. |
780,419,277 |
|
|
6. |
732,217,020 |
|
|
7. |
718,398,582 |
|
|
8. |
709,804,092 |
|
|
9. |
688,413,212 |
|
|
10. |
685,104,561 |
2000s
|
1. |
1,894,959,380 |
|
|
2. |
1,283,779,857 |
|
|
3. |
1,139,998,193 |
|
|
4. |
1,012,792,172 |
|
|
5. |
961,272,647 |
|
|
6. |
936,937,685 |
|
|
7. |
936,098,974 |
|
|
8. |
918,069,015 |
|
|
9. |
892,237,348 |
|
|
10. |
859,564,859 |
2010s
|
|
|
|
|
1. |
6,558,078,465 |
|
|
2. |
4,517,718,066 |
|
|
3. |
Wiz Khalifa – See You Again ft. Charlie Puth [Official Video] Furious 7 Soundtrack |
4,320,523,808 |
|
4. |
3,732,564,526 |
|
|
5. |
3,471,161,219 |
|
|
6. |
3,225,301,301 |
|
|
7. |
3,086,744,534 |
|
|
8. |
2,968,228,909 |
|
|
9. |
2,883,120,697 |
|
|
10. |
2,864,887,373 |