Full List: Top 10 most viewed YouTube music videos of all time
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Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito” remains the most-viewed commercially released music video on YouTube, with more than 9.1 billion views.
“See You Again” by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth and Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” follow, with more than 7 billion and 6.7 billion views respectively.
The top 10 also features global hits such as “Gangnam Style”, “Uptown Funk”, “Waka Waka” and “Counting Stars”, showing the enduring impact of viral songs and major cultural moments on YouTube.
While the platform's overall most-viewed video is Pinkfong's Baby Shark Dance, that ranking includes children's content. When the focus is narrowed to commercially released music videos by recording artistes, Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's Despacito sits at the top, having surpassed 9.1 billion views.
Here are the 10 most-viewed music videos on YouTube based on the latest available September 2026 ranking.
1. Luis Fonsi ft Daddy Yankee – Despacito
Views: More than 9.1 billion
Despacito remains the most-viewed music video in YouTube history. Released in 2017, the Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee hit became a global phenomenon and was later boosted further by a remix featuring Justin Bieber.
The song's official video previously held YouTube's overall viewership record before being overtaken by Baby Shark Dance in 2020.
2. Wiz Khalifa ft Charlie Puth – See You Again
Views: More than 7 billion
Written for Furious 7, See You Again became a worldwide tribute to late actor Paul Walker, who died in a car crash while the film was still in production.
The emotional song briefly became YouTube's most-viewed video overall in 2017 before Despacito reclaimed the record.
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3. Ed Sheeran – Shape of You
Views: More than 6.7 billion
Ed Sheeran's Shape of You continues to rank among YouTube's biggest music videos. The 2017 hit topped charts in 34 countries, while its boxing-themed video offered a humorous visual storyline rather than a conventional performance clip.
4. Crazy Frog – Axel F
Views: More than 6.1 billion
Crazy Frog's Axel F has remained a YouTube heavyweight despite originating from an entirely different era of pop culture.
The track reworked Harold Faltermeyer's famous instrumental theme from the 1984 film Beverly Hills Cop and became a major novelty hit after the Crazy Frog character emerged from ringtone culture.
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5. PSY – Gangnam Style
Views: More than 6 billion
PSY's Gangnam Style* remains one of the most important viral music videos in YouTube history.
Released in 2012, it became the platform's first video to reach one billion views and later two billion. Its distinctive dance and satirical take on Seoul's affluent Gangnam district helped turn the Korean-language song into a global sensation.
6. Mark Ronson ft Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk
Views: More than 5.8 billion
Uptown Funk has amassed more than 5.8 billion YouTube views since its release in 2014.
The Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars collaboration became a major commercial success, spending 14 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and winning the Grammy Award for Record of the Year.
7. Hariharan – Shree Hanuman Chalisa
Views: More than 5.6 billion
The devotional recording Shree Hanuman Chalisa, performed by Indian singer Hariharan, has become one of the biggest music videos ever uploaded to YouTube.
Its enormous audience also makes it the most-viewed video originating from India in this ranking, demonstrating the huge role devotional music plays on the platform.
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8. El Chombo ft Cutty Ranks – Dame Tu Cosita
Views: More than 5.6 billion
Originally recorded in 1997, Dame Tu Cosita found a completely new audience two decades later after an animated dancing alien became an internet sensation.
The viral dance challenge helped revive the song and eventually led to an official video featuring the now-famous green alien.
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9. Shakira ft Freshlyground – Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)
Views: More than 4.7 billion
Shakira's Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) remains one of the most successful World Cup songs ever released.
The track served as the official song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa and incorporated elements of the Cameroonian song Zamina mina (Zangalewa). Its association with the tournament has helped it maintain strong global appeal years after the competition ended.
10. OneRepublic – Counting Stars
Views: More than 4.4 billion
OneRepublic's Counting Stars completes the top 10 with more than 4.4 billion views.
Released in 2013, the song became a global hit, reaching No. 1 in countries including the United Kingdom and Canada. Its music video was also the first by a band to reach one billion views on YouTube.
The list shows just how far a song can travel on YouTube when music is combined with a powerful visual identity, cultural moment or viral phenomenon.
From the global Latin influence of Despacito and the emotional impact of See You Again to the World Cup legacy of Waka Waka and the internet-driven revival of Dame Tu Cosita, these songs have maintained extraordinary audiences well beyond their original release periods.
It is also worth noting that this is a music-video ranking, not YouTube's overall most-viewed-video ranking. Children's songs and nursery-rhyme videos occupy several of the platform's overall top positions, with Baby Shark Dance alone exceeding 17 billion views.
Because YouTube's public view counters are continually updated, the order and totals can change over time.
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