Baby Shark becomes first YouTube video to reach 10 billion views

The viral children’s song ‘Baby Shark’ has become the first video on YouTube to reach 10 billion views, beating songs like ‘Despacito’ and ‘Shape of You.’

Since its creation, YouTube has grown to be one of the most visited websites on the world wide web. Its first video was uploaded on April 23, 2005, by the founder of the company, Jawed Karim.

Shortly after the company was purchased by Google in 2006, the video-sharing platform soared in popularity as it was formed into the website that we know of today with over 26 billion videos uploaded to date.

Among those videos are some of the most viewed uploads that the website has ever seen, including the viral children’s song ‘Baby Shark’, which has officially received 10 billion views.

Baby Shark reaches 10 billion views on YouTube

Uploaded by Pink Fong on June 17, 2016, the baby shark song and its accompanying dance video has officially received over 10 billion views on YouTube, cementing its status as the most viewed video of all time.

• Read More: Twitch streamer finishes huge LEGO Millennium Falcon build after 26 hour stream

The video surpassed “Despacito” by Luis Fonzi and Daddy Yankee in November 2020, and has maintained its lead ever since.

In addition to its popular ‘Baby Shark Challenge,’ where people film themselves doing the dance, the song stayed on Billboard’s top 100 for 20 weeks straight.

Since gaining viral popularity with kids all over the world, the infamous song inspired a Nickelodeon animated series, a special on Netflix, global merchandise, and more.

While Baby Shark is the first video to receive 10 billion views, it was not the first to enter the billion view club.

• Read More: Pokelawls flames DisguisedToast after his “stupid” 30-day ban prank

In December 2012, Gangnam Style became the first video to reach one billion views just 5 months after being uploaded. Almost 100 videos have joined the billion view club since then, with a large amount of them being popular music videos.

While it’s likely we’ll see another viral song join the club in the future, it would be surprising to see it surpass Baby Shark’s iconic milestone.