‘Gangnam Style’ surpasses 1b views

Global K-pop star Psy continues to make history and shows no signs of stopping. Friday, Dec. 21, marked a YouTube milestone with the viral mega hit “Gangnam Style” becoming the first video to reach one billion views. The video has already received more than 20 million more views, as of Sunday morning.

On Nov. 24, “Gangnam Style” made history by becoming the most-watched YouTube video in less than five months, surpassing 810 million views and ending Justin Bieber’s reign at the top. Psy’s hit currently sits more than 200 millions views away from Bieber’s “Baby,” which still remains the second most-watched video on YouTube. 

How fitting that the one-billion-view milestone also occurred the same night that “Christmas in Washington 2012” aired on TNT. The YouTube sensation serenaded the Obama family and other prominent Washington figures, turning his hit song into a rendition of “Christmas Style.” Psy, decked out in a glittery red holiday outfit, started out the performance by singing the beginning of “The Christmas Song” before breaking into his signature dance moves.

Psy will be ringing in the New Year by performing in New York’s Time Square on “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” along with Bieber, Taylor Swift, Carly Rae Jepson and others.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)