Viral music videos are those that have gained rapid attention on the Internet. Like Internet memes, viewership of such videos tend to expand rapidly and become more widespread because the instant communication facilitates word of mouth.
This list documents music videos known to have become viral (the two sections are sorted in alphabetical order); other viral videos can be found at list of viral videos with additional videos that have become Internet phenomena for other categories can be found at list of Internet phenomena.
Major music videos
These videos are videos from various artists that have gained viral popularity after their release.
"APT." – a song by New Zealand and South Korean singer Rosé and American singer Bruno Mars. The song spent many weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 and became one of the fastest songs ever to reach one billion views on YouTube. "Ai Se Eu Te Pego" – a Brazilian Portuguese song made popular by the Brazilian singer Michel Teló during the height of the Música sertaneja craze. The international success of the main release of the song made the song go viral. The song peaked at number 81 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Axel F" – a remix of the Beverly Hills Cop theme by Crazy Frog. The song peaked at number 1 in the UK Charts in 2005, as well in different countries in Europe. The song received renewed attention in 2016.
"Baby Shark Dance" – a children's viral educational music video made by South Korean education brand Pinkfong that went viral due to its poppy and repetitive lyrics, and is also the most viewed video on YouTube, with over 16 billion views.
"Bad and Boujee" – a song by rap group Migos. The song became a meme when people made edits on the line "Raindrop, droptop".
"Chandelier" - a song by Australian singer Sia. The music video went viral in 2014 and became the seventh most-watched video on YouTube in 2014.
"Dat $tick" – a song by Indonesian rapper Rich Brian. It went viral after many rappers reacted to it.
"Despacito" – the official video for "Despacito" on YouTube received its one billionth view on April 20, 2017, after 97 days, becoming the second-fastest video on the site to reach the milestone behind Adele's "Hello". By August 2017, the song was the most viewed YouTube video with 2.9 billion views. Despacito is also the first and fastest video to hit 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 billion views. The song soared into the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 following a Justin Bieber remix. The song also peaked at number 1 for 16 weeks, tying Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men's "One Sweet Day".
"Dilbar" – a remake of 1999 Bollywood song of the same name. Being sung by Neha Kakkar, Dhvani Bhanushali and Ikka in Hindi, it features Arabic, Middle Eastern and Moroccan influences. The video features Nora Fatehi performing Arabic Belly dance. A remix version of the song, in three languages: Arabic, French and Hindi was later released, sung by Moroccan-Canadian actress Nora Fatehi in collaboration with Moroccan hip hop group Fnaïre.
"Gangnam Style" – a song and music video by South Korean rapper Psy, showing him doing an "invisible horse dance" and saying the catchphrase "Oppa Gangnam Style" across a number of quirky locations, leading to its viral spread as well as the single's reaching international music charts. On YouTube, the video was the first to reach 1 and 2 billion views, and on November 24, 2012, became the most watched video, surpassing Justin Bieber's "Baby" until it was surpassed by Wiz Khalifa's "See You Again" on July 10, 2017.
"God's Plan" – a viral song made by Canadian rapper Drake. The lyrics, as well as some of the good deeds Drake did throughout the music video, allowed for it to go viral and become a meme. The song peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. "Golden" – a song by the fictional group Huntrix, from the movie KPop Demon Hunters, which was released on Netflix on June 20, 2025. The song blew up worldwide and broke many charts records.
"Gucci Gang" – a song and music video by American rapper Lil Pump. The song's repetitive hook, which repeats the title of the song several times, led to the song becoming an Internet meme with other people making edits of the song. The song also peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Havana" – a song by Camila Cabello named after the Cuban city of where she was born. The song is the first song by a female artist since 1996 to top 3 multiple charts on Billboard. The song also peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Hello" – Adele's song released in October 2015 was a major digital commercial success, being the first song to sell 1 million units within a week of its release. Its video, which primarily features Adele's singing through a telephone conversation, led to several mashups with other songs, including Lionel Richie's song of the same name, which had a similar theme to its video. The video holds the record for the fastest time to reach one billion views on YouTube, reaching this within 88 days of its release, and currently has over 3.2 billion views. "High Hopes" – a song by Panic! at the Disco.
"Hot Nigga" – a song by American rapper Bobby Shmurda. It became popular among Vine users in 2014 and led to the Shmoney dance meme, which has been performed by both Beyoncé and NFL receiver Brandon Gibson. The line "About a week ago!" was also heavily featured in the vines.
"Hotline Bling" – a song and video by Drake released in October 2015; the video primarily consists of Drake dancing with female performers against brightly lit backgrounds. Drake's dance style was considered "goofy" and like that "of a total fool".
"How You Like That" – a song by South Korean girl group Blackpink released in June 2020. The song's music video broke the records for the biggest music video premiere on YouTube, with 1.66 million concurrent viewers, and the most-watched music video within 24 hours, with 86.3 million views in its first day. It became the fastest video to reach 100 million views, in just 32 hours, and 200 million views, in seven days. The song's music video hit 1 billion views in February 2022.
"Kill This Love" – a song by South Korean girl group Blackpink released in April 2019. The song's music video broke the records for the biggest music video premiere on YouTube, with 979,000 million concurrent viewers, and the most-watched music video within 24 hours, with 56.7 million views in its first day. It became the fastest video to reach 100 million views, in two days and 14 hours. In September 2024, the music video passed 2 billion views.
"Lahore" – a Punjabi Indi-pop single by Guru Randhawa released in December 2017. It was later remade for Street Dancer 3D by the name of "Lagdi Lahore Di" and sung by Guru Randhawa and Tulsi Kumar.
"Laung Laachi" – a Punjabi title song of the movie Laung Laachi became the most viewed song video in India in December 2019, as well as the first music video to hit more than 1 billion views. It is also the most viewed T-Series video (uploaded on 'T-Series Apna Punjab'). "Let It Go" – A song by Idina Menzel as the character Queen Elsa, from the 2013 Disney film Frozen. The song went globally famous and had a huge impact. ""LM3ALLEM" - a song and video by Saad Lamjarred released on 2 May 2015. In 2022, it became the first Arabic song to reach 1 billion views on YouTube, making the most-watched music video from Morocco and the Arab World.
"Look What You Made Me Do" – a song and video by Taylor Swift released on August 27, 2017. The song's music video broke the record for most-watched music video within 24 hours by achieving 43.2 million views on YouTube in its first day, topping the 27.7 million views Adele's "Hello" attracted in that timeframe, making it the third most viewed online video in the first 24 hours."Taylor Swift's 'Look What You Made Me Do' Smashes YouTube's 24-Hour Record, Crushing Psy", August 29, 2017."Taylor Swift Topples Adele's Vevo Record — With Hours Left to Spare". aEW.com. Retrieved August 28, 2017. "Never Gonna Give You Up"– a song and video by Rick Astley which is shared through Rickrolling where someone sends the link for the music video to another user disguised as a different link. The song amassed 1 billion views in July 2021.
"Old Town Road" – a song by Lil Nas X that gained popularity in early 2019. It has since become a challenge on TikTok, under the "Yeehaw Challenge". The song has received support from Justin Bieber, was played after Texas Tech's win in the NCAA tournament, and played at an Atlanta Hawks basketball game. The song peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, as well in many other countries. Its longevity on top of the Billboard Hot 100 has made it one of only 12 singles to peak at number one for 13+ weeks. A remix with country singer Billy Ray Cyrus was later released, boosting the songs popularity even more. The remix audio has surpassed 550 million views on YouTube. Both versions of the song have made Road the most streamed song in a week in the US with over 143 million streams, surpassing Drake's "In My Feelings" with 116.2 million streams. A music video released later starts off in 1889 and transitions into 2019. The music video also features several cameos. "Roar" – a 2013 song by American singer Katy Perry. This song became globally famous and topped the charts in many countries.
"See You Again" – the official soundtrack of the 2015 film Furious 7 sung by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth. The song was a tribute to Paul Walker, as he died during the production of Furious 7. The song became very popular, getting to 1 billion views in only 181 days. The song was also briefly the most viewed YouTube video, until it was surpassed by Despacito 24 days later.
"Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" – a song and video released by Beyoncé in October 2008. The music video, shot in black and white, features Beyoncé wearing a one-shoulder black leotard surrounded by two backup dancers performing the choreography that would lead to the video's popularity. The video is credited with starting the "first major dance craze of both the new millennium and the Internet". Many celebrities have parodied and paid homage to the song and the video, including former President Barack Obama, Tom Hanks, Joe Jonas, Kourtney Kardashian, Khloé Kardashian, and Kim Kardashian, and Chris Colfer and Heather Morris included the dance routine as part of Glee Live! In Concert!
"Tenda Biru" – a song by Indonesian actress Desy Ratnasari. It became viral in 2016, when she eventually popularized the Mannequin Challenge in the past.
"Thank U, Next" – a 2018 song by Ariana Grande; its music video was released on November 30. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100. The video reached 100 million views in 3 days and 10 hours, becoming one of the fastest to do so. It also reached 55.4 million views within 24 hours, breaking both the YouTube and Vevo 24 hour records. The music video features celebrities Kris Jenner, Colleen Ballinger, Jonathan Bennett, Stefanie Drummond, Scott Nicholson, Troye Sivan and Gabi DeMartino. It referenced the movies Mean Girls, Bring It On, 13 Going on 30 and Legally Blonde. "The Duck Song" – a 2009 children's song by Bryant Oden accompanying an animated music video by forrestfire101 that went viral shortly after its release on YouTube. Within three years the video received nearly 90 million views. The series ended in October 2024 with Part 5.