Billion Views Club
The view count for Mike WiLL Made-It‘s “23” music video just surpassed a much bigger number on YouTube. Starring the producer, Miley Cyrus, Wiz Khalifa and Juicy J, the visual has reached 1 billion plays on the website more than a decade after it was first uploaded in 2013. Directed by Hannah Lux Davis, the […]
If you like it, then you should’ve put a ring on it — but a billion views isn’t a bad compromise. Fresh off of being named Billboard‘s No. 1 greatest pop star of the 21st century, Beyoncé‘s iconic music video for “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” has surpassed one billion views on YouTube […]
Hit it, baby, a billion times. One of Britney Spears‘ most iconic music videos — “…Baby One More Time” — has joined YouTube’s billion views club, making it the pop star’s second to reach the milestone after “Scream & Shout” with Will.i.am. First uploaded to the site in October 2009 — more than 10 years […]
Just in time for spooky season, Michael Jackson’s iconic 1983 music video for “Thriller” has surpassed one billion YouTube views. The milestone marks the King of Pop’s fourth visual to join the Billion Views Club after “Beat It,” “Billie Jean,” and “They Don’t Care About Us.” Directed by John Landis and boasting a voiceover from Vincent Price, the 13-minute clip […]
More than 40 years after topping the Billboard Hot 100, Toto‘s “Africa” is still reaching new milestones: The 1983 No. 1 hit just surpassed 1 billion views on YouTube. “Africa” — Toto’s lone Hot 100 chart-topper among four top 10 hits — is the band’s first entry in YouTube’s Billion Views Club. The Toto IV […]
Nelly Furtado is officially a member of YouTube‘s Billion Views Club. The singer’s “Say It Right” music video featuring Timbaland becomes her first-ever visual to hit the milestone, just shy of 15 years after it was first uploaded. Posted on the platform in June 2009, “Say It Right” finds Furtado performing the track atop a […]
Ooh, baby, it’s raining views. As of Thursday (Feb. 22), the music video for Rihanna‘s “Umbrella” featuring Jay-Z has more than 1 billion clicks on YouTube, 15 years after it was first uploaded. The late 2000s time capsule opens with Jay-Z rapping in front of a curtain of falling sparks, flanked by a troupe of […]
Forget looking at the stars, look at that view count! Coldplay‘s “Yellow” has become the band’s latest music video to join the Billion Views Club. Their beloved 2000 breakthrough hit — which they opened their 2016 Super Bowl Halftime Show performance with — is the band’s fifth music video to collect over 1 billion views […]
The King of Pop reigns forever. Despite coming from a completely different era of media, Michael Jackson‘s seminal “Beat It” music video has become the latest clip to reach one billion views on YouTube, as confirmed by the streaming giant on Wednesday (Nov. 29). “Beat It” is Jackson’s third music video to enter the Billion […]
Just like time, a billion views probably can’t mend the careless whispers of a good friend — but it’s still a pretty major milestone. The music video for George Michael‘s iconic 1984 hit “Careless Whisper” recently surpassed the momentous view count, thanks to the help of hundreds of thousands of average views per day.
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Though the video was uploaded to YouTube in 2009 and first created two decades prior to that — the clip is seriously a time capsule of the mid-80s — it still reaches an average audience of more than 400,000 global views each day. It stars Michael — looking glam in gold earrings, a suit and his trademark poofy hair — serenading the camera as he reflects on clips of him cheating on his significant other. There’s vintage swimwear, sailboats and Miami sunsets, a perfectly dramatic backdrop for the pop star to profess his regret over an affair.
The ballad, which was credited to “George Michael” or “Wham! featuring George Michael” depending on the country of release, served as Michael’s pivot away from Wham! into an extremely successful solo career. Thanks in part to its instantly recognizable featured saxophone solo, “Careless Whisper” remains one of the musician’s most well-known songs of all time, spending three weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 in ’84 and ’85. Only “Faith” has surpassed that chart reign, having clocked four weeks at No. 1 in 1987; “One More Try” also spent three weeks in the prime spot in 1988.
The two-time Grammy winner passed away in 2016, but not before sharing one last project with the world: his autobiographical documentary, Freedom. Of his legendary, decades-long career, Michel professed in the doc that he hoped to be remembered as “one of those last kind of big pop stars, in a sense that there was a certain glamour to it.”
“But really, it’s just the songs, and I hope that people think of me as someone who had some kind of integrity,” he continued at the time, jokingly adding: “Very unlikely.”
Watch George Michael’s billion-times-viewed music video for “Careless Whisper” above.