“Baby Shark Dance” has become the first YouTube video to receive 10 billion views!
The catchy singalong by Pinkfong (Republic of Korea) was first uploaded in 2016, becoming the most-viewed children’s music video on YouTube, before surpassing Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito” in 2020 as the most viewed music video on YouTube and the most viewed video on YouTube overall.
The song “Baby Shark” most likely originated as a campfire song, dating back to at least the 20th century.
During the chant, campers used their arms to imitate the various jaw shapes and sizes of Baby Shark, Mommy Shark, Daddy Shark, Grandma Shark and Grandpa Shark.
While Pinkfong’s version has the sharks go hunting and then run away, other versions of the song involve eating sailors and other humans.
Sung by Hope Segoine, aged 10 years old at the time, it peaked at No.32 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No.38 in the Global 200.
However, the YouTube video became a viral sensation in Indonesia and South Korea, quickly spreading to the rest of Asia and beyond in 2017.
The dance craze’s popularity was taken to even higher levels after being performed by Guinness World Records title holders BLACKPINK.
By February 2021, “Baby Shark” had more views than the entire human population of Earth, becoming the first YouTube video to do so. If its 10 billion views were played back-to-back, they would run for 41,095 years.
Despite being overtaken as the most viewed video, “Despacito” is still the most liked video on YouTube with 47 million likes as of January 2022, compared to 33 million for “Baby Shark”.
“Despacito” also holds the record for being the first YouTube video to receive 5 billion views.
