YouTube is fast becoming one of the most successful and powerful entertainment services on the planet, especially amongst the younger generations who are seemingly deciding to switch off their television sets and turn to their phones instead to stream video content online.
YouTube’s popularity with younger audiences makes it even more surprising to learn that the music video for Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ has recently reached over 1 billion views… that’s 14% of the entire world’s population who has watched the video. Impressive stuff for a band, song and music video that was released way back in 1975…
Despite the world first seeing the music video for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ over 44 years ago, the video’s new milestone proves that not only do Queen still have a huge fanbase out there wanting a piece of their brilliance, but it also shows how powerful YouTube can be. This site is a new platform for re-sharing and re-promoting old-school music from an entirely different era.
Just think how much life has changed since the mid-70s… We’ve certainly come a long way…
So why ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’?
As we’ve mentioned, Queen’s iconic track has now officially become the oldest video to reach 1 billion views. In fact, it’s the first video dating prior to 1990 that reached the milestone. That’s a lot of love for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ – but rightfully so, because it’s commonly referred to as one of the most loved and culturally significant tracks of all time.
Not only is it simply an insanely good song, but the latest release of the self-titled 2019 film ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ probably has something to do with the video’s new surge of views, too. The biopic stars Rami Malek as Queen’s lead singer Freddie Mercury, and as well as it being a commercial triumph, the film was also brilliantly received by critics. Malek even won the ‘Best Actor’ Academy Award for his performance as one of rock’s biggest legends.
Has the world fallen back in love with old school rock ‘n’ roll? Has the younger generation finally discovered Queen’s greatness? Most importantly, has YouTube played a significant role in this? Most likely.
What are some other notable YouTube music milestones?
To get a feel for just how culturally influential YouTube can be, let’s take a look at some of the other major milestones reached by music videos over the years…
South Korea’s Psy was the first musical artist to reach the 1 billion mark with his viral track ‘Gangnam Style’ back in 2012. The video now has over 3.3 billion views!
So, what is the most-watched YouTube video of all time? Well, you might want to cover your ears for this one… as it’s none other than Luis Fonsi’s ‘Despacito’, currently standing at 6.4 billion views – and it is, unfortunately, still rising!
What about the fastest watched videos? Well, Brit powerhouse Adele’s 2015 single ‘Hello’ was the fastest video to reach 1 billion, taking just 87 days. Plus, the single ‘Boy with Luv’ from K-pop supergroup BTS was the fastest video to reach 100 million views, taking… wait for it… just 38 hours!
The only other 20th-century video to hit the billion mark is rock band Guns and Roses’s 1992 track ‘November Rain’, which currently sits at 1.2 billion. See! We told you rock ‘n’ roll is still alive!
