Last February, it was 18 years since the founding of YouTube in California. By the time it came of age, as have its users, the video platform owned by Alphabet (Google) had gone through many stages. Many are curious to know the most viewed YouTube videos in 2023, especially after seeing the huge impact that releases of songs like Miley Cyrus ‘Flowers’ or Bizarrap’s 53rd session with Shakira have had.
Unfortunately, YouTube does not list its most viewed videos in 2023. This list can also change in a matter of days. Only the lists of the most listened-to songs are published weekly, allowing you to filter by artist or by music video, although it only shows the results by week and not grouped by month.
THE MOST VIEWED VIDEOS IN THE HISTORY OF YOUTUBE
In the absence of an official list being published that includes the data for the entire year 2023 and other video categories beyond music, it is possible to resort to the list of the most viewed videos of the youtube story. Early platform users surely remember some viral videos like Edgar’s Fall or ‘hits’ like ‘Gangnam Style,’ but are they the most successful?
| Video | Number of reproductions (According to Statista) |
| ‘Baby Shark Dance’ by Pinkfong Kids’ Songs & Stories | 12,300 million |
| ‘Despacito,’ by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee | 8.100 million |
| ‘Johny Johny Yes Papa’, by LooLoo Kids | 6.540 million |
| ‘Bath Song,’ by Cocomelon – Nursery Rhymes | 5.960 million |
| “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran | 5.890 million |
| ‘See you again,’ by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth | 5.760 million |
| ‘Phonics with Two Words’ by ChuChu TV | 5.120 million |
| ‘Wheels on the Bus’ by Cocomelon – Nursery Rhymes | 4.840 million |
| ‘Uptown Funk’ by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars | 4.820 million |
| ‘Learning Colors – Colorful Eggs on a Farm’ by Miroshka TV | 4.8 billion |
Statista recently published a list of the most viewed videos on YouTube in its entire history, and it will come as no surprise that the video with the greatest success (and by far) is the ‘Baby Shark Dance.’ The nursery rhyme about sharks, as catchy for children as torturous for parents, has accumulated more than 12,300 million views, being the first video to exceed the barrier of 10,000 million views.
The second place is occupied by another song aimed at a more adult audience, although no less catchy for that. In 2017 Luis Fonsi teamed up with Daddy Yankee to sign one of the musical collaborations with the greatest impact in ‘Despacito,’ a song that no club in the world has resisted. This theme, whose bandwagon wanted to get on ‘after the fact’ until Justin Bieber, has more than 8,100 million views and is the second most viewed video in the platform’s history. However, overcoming those 4,000 million clicks that bring you ‘Baby Shark’ seems difficult.
It may surprise many, but YouTube is a gold mine for children’s content. This can be verified by seeing that the third most viewed video in its history is another children’s song, ‘Johny Johny Yes Papa.’ The English version of LooLoo Kids already has more than 6.6 billion views.
Cocomelon ‘s ‘Bath Song,’ another children’s music channel, has a crumb. It has already exceeded 6,000 million views on YouTube, and although it has 16 million ‘likes,’ it also accumulates a whopping 12 million ‘dislikes.’ The reason? There are many criticisms of this channel, including those who claim that this channel retards the maturational growth of children, although it is probably more linked to the fact that this song has more than one resemblance to ‘Baby Shark.’
Ed Sheeran is the second singer to make a name for himself in the latifundia of children’s videos on YouTube, but he has to settle for fifth place thanks to his ‘Shape of You.’ This 2017 song continues to play recurrently on the radio in any country. However, it was in English-speaking territories where it was most successful, with 14 consecutive weeks as number one in the United Kingdom and 12 times in total in the US.
Behind Sheeran is another song we’ve heard countless times: ‘See you Again,’ a collaboration between Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth that became the soundtrack to the movie ‘Fast & Furious 7’. The unexpected death of actor Paul Walker, one of the protagonists of this charismatic saga of action and cars, was a shock for the cast and the fans of the films, and that was reflected in the song. The emotion of the lyrics and the final scene of the video clip, with Walker saying goodbye to Vin Diesel each taking his path, have made this song close to reaching 6,000 views on YouTube.
The seventh most viewed video in history belongs to ChuChu TV, another channel with songs dedicated to children, in this case also for educational purposes. ‘Phonics Song with TWO words’ consists of reviewing the alphabet with two examples of words in English that begin with each letter so that the little ones start to loosen up to speak.
Cocomelon is the only YouTube channel with two videos on the most viewed platform’s history list. With ‘Wheels on the Bus,’ which begins with circus music and ends as one of the world’s most recognizable children’s songs. These copyright-free songs have been adapted thousands of times, and this is his most successful example (although, again, racking up 10 million dislikes).
Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars take a breather by sneaking ‘Uptown Funk’ onto the list with more than 4.8 billion views. The British producer nailed it with this collaboration with Bruno Mars, creating a song with a very charismatic eighties air that has been playing on our radios and minds for years.
YouTube’s historical ‘top’ 10 list is closed by another children’s song, this time from a channel of Russian origin, Miroshka TV. This video adopts the popular melody from ‘Old MacDonald Had a Farm’ (or ‘La Granja de Pepito’ in Spanish) for the little ones to learn colors in English. Something is curious about this type of YouTube Kids’ video: they arouse as much passion as hatred since they add up to almost nine million ‘dislikes.’
OTHER ARTICLES ABOUT YOUTUBE
5 YouTube Tricks that will change your experience with this Video Platform
The funniest parodies of the Bizarrap and Shakira songs on YouTube
Spotify or YouTube Music, comparison of the two on-demand music services
The best YouTube channels to learn to drive and get the theory
I am a writer with eight years of experience writing in business and technology. I always carry a passion for learning and discovering new knowledge.