Top 10 Most Viewed Videos on YouTube

YouTube has it all – music videos, movie trailers, all sorts of tutorials, vlogs, unboxing videos, cooking shows etc. What better way is there to spend your time at home while you’re waiting for the washing machine to finish the cycle or your favourite pie to come out of the oven than to fire up one of the most viewed YouTube videos and unwind for a while? We’ve compiled a list of the 10 YouTube videos with the most views as per April 2020 – meaning you will be watching the most loved pieces of video footage in the world! Interestingly, the majority of the list contains music videos. It looks like people seem to love music – unexpected, right?

(1) Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee – Despacito

The absolute top of the charts is the music video for Despacito, a song by Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee with over 6,6 billion views. The video was uploaded in early 2017, and it features the Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi and Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee performing the song in La Perla neighbourhood of Old San Juan. Despacito is Fonsi's biggest success after having won 4 Latin Grammy Awards, 7 Billboard Latin Music Awards, 5 Billboard Music Awards and received 3 Grammy Awards nominations.

The epitome of the ultimate reggaeton and Latin pop song, Despacito is a fusion of urban rhythm, strong Latin influences and catchy verses. One of the most successful Spanish-language tracks in pop music history, Fonsi’s song received a video that featured 2006 Miss Universe Zuleyka Rivera, representing the Latina powerful woman and Fonsi’s love interest, and it was recorded in such a way to highlight some of the main cultural and folkloric symbols of Puerto Rico. If you’re in a mood for dancing, this is the song for you – you will not be able to get the hook out of your head!         

(2) Pinkfong Kids' Songs & Stories - Baby Shark Dance

The Baby Shark Dance was created by the YouTube channel Pinkfong, a Korean-based channel for kids that creates videos of sing-along songs and dances. Who would have thought that a song about a family of sharks would go viral, but there you go! The song benefits from catchy lyrics and funky dance moves that are so awesome and cute, enough to make any adult break into song, let alone a cheerful child.

The song now has over 5 billion views on YouTube, and is the most frequented upload of the Korean educational channel, which has more than 13 million subscribers. It is believed that K-Pop bands like Red Velvet, Girls' Generation and Black Pink also contributed to the popularity of the Baby Shark Dance, because they started doing their own performances of it at their concerts.

(3) Ed Sheeran – Shape of You

The song Shape of You by Ed Sheeran, which peaked at number-one on the singles charts of 34 countries, was released in early 2017 as part of his third studio album ÷. The song, which at the moment of writing has over 4,7 billion views on YouTube, had originally been written with Rihanna in mind, according to the English singer-songwriter. Even though some of the critics have deemed Shape of You as “not your typical Sheeran tune”, the song won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards.

The song is infused by pop, dancehall and tropical house elements, and is themed around a young man going into bars with his friends – he ends up meeting a girl and romance ensues. The official music video features American dancer and model Jennie Pegouskie and retired professional sumo wrestler Yamamotoyama Ryūta.

(4) Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth – See You Again

Wiz Khalifa, the American rapper, singer, songwriter and actor, released the song See You Again in 2015 for the action movie’s Furious 7 soundtrack. The track features Charlie Puth, and remains both Wiz Khalifa’s and Puth’s biggest release to date – it has over 4 billion views on YouTube. It was created as a tribute to the late Paul Walker, the actor who played Brian O'Conner in The Fast and the Furious franchise and unfortunately died in a car crash at the age of 40.

The hip-hop, pop-rap ballad has a video that featured Khalifa and Puth, as well as footage from Furious 7. The video’s highlight is the final scene from the film – Vin Diesel’s character and Paul Walker’s character driving together; they pull over in their cars and smile at each other one last time before driving away on separate roads into the sunset. A heart-warming tune, if there ever was one.

(5) Get Movies - Masha and the Bear: Recipe for Disaster

Masha and the Bear is a Russian animated television series focuses on the adventures of a little girl named Masha and a retired circus bear that always keeps her away from harm and acts like a father figure. The episode Recipe for Disaster is one of the0020rare non-music videos to crack the YouTube top 10. The CG-animated series from Russia’s Animaccord Animation Studio has fans in over 100 countries and this particular Season 1 episode has over 4 billion views.

Recipe for Disaster is a rather humorous episode – while the bear is in the middle of playing checkers, Masha wants to eat. The bear prepares porridge for her, but we all know how kids can be picky about food. The bear gives up and Masha goes on to preparing the meal for herself. We won’t spoil the video for you, but you can imagine the mischief that ensues. 

(6) Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk

Uptown Funk was released in 2014; it was created by the British record producer Mark Ronson and was featured on his fourth studio album. The highlight of the song is the back-up performance by Bruno Mars who enhanced the appeal of the video and its retro-feel by wearing a salmon-coloured blazer and sporting some sick dance moves. If anything, the “Fill my cup, put some liquor in it” verse will surely put you in a party mood.

The video has over 3.8 billion views on YouTube as of March 2020, making it the sixth most viewed YouTube video of all time, and a number of reviewers have deemed it one of the songs that defined the decade. Ronson himself stated that the song is meant to be “straight-ahead funk disco groove” and it was created after a spontaneous jam session. It pays off to be spontaneous!

(7) Psy – Gangnam Style

Have no doubt – Psy’s Gangnam Style changed pop music and became part of pop culture for all eternity. Well, perhaps not for all eternity, but the song is still going strong after being released way back in 2015. When the song was released it immediately reached the top of South Korea’s music charts and soon became a global craze. Park Jae-sang, a rapper more commonly known as Psy, was highly successful in his country, but no one could have predicted such international success for this South Korean K-pop star.

So, what is Gangnam Style all about? The song has satirical connotations and is meant to poke fun at the upper-class Seoul neighbourhood of Gangnam. Even though the song is sung in Korean, it finds a way to get under your skin and make you do the silly “horse dance” choreography in the middle of your living room. Try it.

(8) Justin Bieber – Sorry

The Canadian singer superstar Justin Bieber released Sorry in 2015. At the time, the blonde breaker of teenage hearts was dating fellow singer Selena Gomez. Through the song, he is asking forgiveness and a second chance to redeem himself. Obviously, there was something to apologize for. The song topped the charts in thirteen countries and currently has over 3,2 billion views on YouTube.

You may not be a Belieber, but you won’t remain immune to the dancehall-pop, tropical house and moombahton features of the song, not to mention the universal situation the song captures – we’ve all experienced those moments in life when we’ve made a mistake and we’ve finally realized it is time to apologize and admit it. Saying sorry is not easy, so let the Biebs do it for you.

(9) Maroon 5 - Sugar

Sugar is a song recorded by American band Maroon 5 for their fifth studio album simply named V. The accompanying music video currently has more than 3,1 billion views on YouTube. Since the video was directed by filmmaker David Dobkin, it comes as no surprise that it references his romantic comedy Wedding Crashers. Driving through LA, the band crashes a variety of wedding, shocking the fans at the scene by performing as impromptu musical guests.

The video was so memorable that Adam Levine, the frontman of Maroon 5 and one of the coaches in The Voice, decided to make a TV series themed around it that premiered on the YouTube Premium subscription service in 2018. The song itself has a retro '70s/'80s feel and features a wide range of instruments. You can hear disco, funk-pop, and soul influences and if you like Bruno Mars, you will certainly dig this track.

(10) Roar – Katy Perry

Roar is a song from Katy Perry’s fourth studio album Prism, released in 2013. The track broke 3 billion views on Youtube in February 2020. Overall a pop song, Roar has elements of arena rock and lyrically revolves around a theme of self-empowerment. The video features Perry as a female version of Tarzan basically, and was filmed at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden which was transformed into a jungle for the purposes of the video.

So, yeah – Katy Perry is the first female artist to reach 3 billion views on the YouTube platform. The inspiring power-pop single proved to be above the mixed reviews it received upon release and may just be the perfect song if you want to make yourself feel like a diva.