News July 12, 2017

Wiz Khalifa’s ’See You Again’ topples ’Gangnam Style’ as most viewed YouTube video of all time

Sorry, Psy:Wiz Khalifa’s ’See You Again’ featuring Charlie Puth is now the most-viewed YouTube video of all time with 2,895,915,000 views.

Released in 2015,’See You Again’ might not have had the goofy choreography of the clip forPsy’s 2012 hit ’Gangnam Style’,which made it go viral.

But it was commissioned to be in Furious 7, the seventh instalment of one of the most popular film franchises of all time,and served asa tribute to the series’ late starPaul Walker, who died in a car accident near the end of the Furious 7 shoot.

Footage from his scenes were included in the video.

So too was the final scene of Furious 7 when the main characters Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and Brian O’Conner (Cody Walker, filling in for his brother, Paul) say a wordless goodbye.

The video reached 1 billion views in six months, and 2 billion last September.

It is estimated to have earned Khalifa close to US$2.9 million in royalties from YouTube. Its Spotify plays is said to have made a further $3 million.

The song has also become a favourite at funeral services.

Puth tweeted overnight, “I joined YouTube in 2007 hoping to make a video that would reach 10,000 views. Just heard about ’See You Again’… Wow.”

But it doesn’t seem guaranteed that the Grammy- and Golden Globe-nominated ’See You Again’ will remain in top spot for too long.

Luis Fonsi’s ’Despacito’, only released this year, has already notched up 2,485,501,000 views and is still pulling plenty of views.