Top 10 Most Watched VEVO Songs - TopX
#10: Shakira – Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) (The Official 2010 FIFA World Cup Song) youtube.com/shakiraVEVO
Top 10 Shakira Songs
The official song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup initially stirred some controversy, particularly by South Africans, who believed an African artist should have been selected for its performance. It is now considered one of the best World Cup songs of all time, and sold nearly ten million units worldwide. The music video, which has well over 900 million views, was recorded in multiple languages and features several cameos by famous soccer players, including Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, solo dances by several children and numerous famous clips of archived footage from past World Cup games.
#9: Eminem – Love The Way You Lie ft. Rihanna youtube.com/EminemVEVO
Over the span of his 20+ year career, Eminem has released more than 40 singles. So when we tell you that “Love the Way You Lie” is the best-selling single in his career, it’s pretty clear just how successful this song was. Featuring Rihanna, the track tells the story of an abusive relationship, something both artists could relate to. The track won several awards, including Billboard Music Awards’ Top Rap Song. The music video, which featured Dominic Monaghan and Megan Fox, was equally successful, breaking the record at the time for most hits in one day. The video currently has over 940 million views and an impressive 28:1 like to dislike ratio on YouTube.
#8: OneRepublic – Counting Stars youtube.com/OneRepublicVEVO
Top 10 OneRepublic Songs
This song proves that you don’t need a lot of flashy gadgets or effects to have a successful video. The video features OneRepublic performing the song in what appears to be the basement of a rundown building with faulty lighting and alligators roaming the halls, while a church congregation takes place on the floor above. It all somehow works as the perfect setting for this simple, down-to-earth folk song, which has sold over 7 million copies worldwide; making it one of the best-selling singles of all-time. This success translated into views, as the song currently sits at over 950 million views on VEVO and has an impressive 3 million likes on YouTube.
#7: LMFAO – Party Rock Anthem ft. Lauren Bennett, GoonRock youtube.com/LMFAOVEVO
Opening with a parody of the horror film “28 Days Later,” LMFAO decided to capitalize on the resurgence of zombie flicks for their music video. But, there’s one major difference: everyone has transformed into shufflers instead of brain-eating corpses. The video includes other movie spoofs, like “Shaun of the Dead,” as RedFoo and Sky Blu eventually become infected with the shuffling disease. Not only does video currently have over 940 million views, but it’s the third best-selling digital song in U.S. history. As far as post-apocalyptic worlds go, we’ll take one where everyone performs the Melbourne Shuffle any day.
#6: Mark Ronson – Uptown Funk ft. Bruno Mars youtube.com/MarkRonsonVEVO
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The eighth video on VEVO to receive over a billion views, “Uptown Funk” spent 14 consecutive weeks at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and set a record for highest number of streams in one week with 4.8 million. The video was filmed in several different cities while Mars was on tour, and features Mars and the Hooligans grooving their way around town in coloured suits and bling; all with a distinctive early 1980’s feel. Mars was reportedly influenced by the Minneapolis sound of the early 1980s, which was of course led by the legendary Prince, and critics raved about its electro-funk sound.
#5: Meghan Trainor – All About That Bass youtube.com/MeghanTrainorVEVO
Top 10 Meghan Trainor Songs
Trainor undeniably hit one out of the park with “All About That Bass,” capitalizing on the era of the big booty. The video, which features Trainor and other female dancers clad in candy colours dancing in front of a pink pastel backdrop, was praised for its simplicity and 1950s-theme, and became VEVO’s second most-streamed music video of the year. While many people praised Trainor for promoting positive body image, some disagreed, and even accused Trainor of anti-feminism and shaming women, particularly focusing on the “skinny bitches” line. Regardless, with 11 million copies sold worldwide, over a billion views on VEVO, and multiple Grammy Award nominations, it’s clear Meghan has done something right– not bad for a debut single.
#4: Enrique Iglesias – Bailando (Espanol) ft. Descemer Bueno, Gente de Zona youtube.com/EnriqueIglesiasVEVO
Top 10 Enrique Iglesias Songs
Believe it or not, four different versions of “Bailando” have been released – one in Spanish, two in Portuguese, and another in Spanglish, which features Sean Paul. However, it’s the original Spanish version featuring Descemer Bueno and Gente de Zona that makes our list; the only Spanish track with over a billion views on VEVO. The music video was praised by critics for its creative choreography, as this video was shot in the Dominican Republic, and features all kinds of dancing styles. To top it all off, it even boasts appearances by professional flamenco dancers and Havana’s Ballet troupe Lizt Alfonso. Muy caliente.
#3: Katy Perry – Dark Horse (Official) ft. Juicy J youtube.cm/KatyPerryVEVO
Top 10 Katy Perry Songs
Katy Perry actually has two songs with over a billion views, but we’ve elected to go with “Dark Horse” which ranks slightly higher in total view count than “Roar.” Perry stars as “Katy Patra”, in reference to the legendary Cleopatra, as she turns down a group of suitors attempting to win her affections. Showing her respect for the Ancient Egyptian deities, she eventually transforms into the all-powerful goddess Isis. While some people criticized Perry for appropriating Egyptian culture, several Egyptologists actually praised the video for its use of Egyptian imagery. The song itself is a mashup of pop, hip-hop and trap, so it makes sense that the imagery in the video is kind of a mashup as well.
#2: Taylor Swift – Blank Space youtube.com/TaylorSwiftVEVO
Top 10 Taylor Swift Songs
Similar to Perry, Taylor Swift actually has two videos in the top five, but we’re going with “Blank Space” over “Shake It Off” because of its higher view count. Critics praised the “Blank Space” video for its self-deprecating tone as Swift satirizes the media’s perception of her and her relationships. The video matches the song’s tongue-in-cheek lyrics, which clearly resonated with viewers– it became the fastest video to reach 1 billion views, doing so in approximately eight months, and is the most-viewed music video by a female artist. It also won Best Pop Video and Best Female Video at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards. Before we go to our top pick, here are a few honourable mentions: HM1: Sia – Chandelier (Official Video) youtube.com/SiaVEVO HM2: Jennifer Lopez – On The Floor ft. Pitbull youtube.com/JenniferLopezVEVO HM3: Miley Cyrus – Wrecking Ball youtube.com/MileyCyrusVEVO HM4: Romeo Santos – Propuesta Indecente youtube.com/RomeoSantosVEVO HM5: Maroon 5 – Sugar youtube.com/Maroon5VEVO HM6: Carly Rae Jepsen – Call Me Maybe youtube.com/CarlyRaeJepsenVEVO
#1: Justin Bieber – Baby ft. Ludacris youtube.com/JustinBieberVEVO
Top 10 Justin Bieber Songs
For better or worse, this is the song that launched Justin Bieber into international stardom. To make a successful pop song, all you really need is an incredibly catchy chorus and a verse from a prominent rap artist, both of which can be found on this track. The accompanying music video is the number one most viewed video on VEVO with over 1.2 billion views. It comes complete with cameos from Drake, Lil Twist and Tinashe, and features the classic Bieber haircut at its very best. Love him or hate him, the fact that Bieber produced such a successful hit at just 15 years old is an incredible feat. That’s it for our countdown, we hope you enjoyed yourself. Be sure to vote on upcoming episodes on our website, check us out on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and subscribe to watchmojo.com for more great top 10s every day.
