Art & Entertainment

PSY's 'Gangnam Style' Makes History; Becomes The 1st Korean Music Video To Hit 5 Billion Views On YouTube

The iconic 'Gangnam Style' has made history by becoming the first Korean music video to hit 5 billion views.

PSY's Gangnam Style
info_icon

The song that established K-Pop in the western music industry is undoubtedly 'Gangnam Style.' Sung by PSY, the song released on July 15, 2012, and has, till date, kept audiences captivated with its catchy hook steps and infectious beats. Now, the song has made history. It has officially become the first Korean music video to surpass 5 billion streams on YouTube.

The song went viral at the time of its release, all across the globe, sitting at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and also at No. 1 on Billboard's year-end World Digital Song Sales chart in 2012 and 2013. 

What adds to the excitement of this remarkable feat is that the news comes a day before PSY's birthday. The singer, whose real name is Park Jae-sang, took to social media and captioned it, “The best pre-birthday present ever. Thank you for 5 billion views!!”

Adding on to the song's achievements, it became the first ever video on YouTube to hit 1 billion views, and today, it sits at No. 11 in the list of the most-watched videos of all time. 

In an interview with the New York Times years ago, PSY openly admitted that he didn't understand why the song became so popular. "The songs are written by the same person, the dance moves are by the same person and they're performed by the same person. Everything's the same, but what was so special about that one song? I still don't know, to this day," he exclaimed.