Gangnam Style Breaks 1 Billion Views

It was the unlikely music hit of 2012, a mix of comedy video and incomprehensible k-pop. Now Gangnam Style has twirled its imaginary lasso and reeled in a record, trotting an imaginary horse all the way past 1 billion views.

The South Korean track, sung by tuxedo-sporting Psy, has been inescapable online. Appearing time and again as one of the most-parodied music videos on the web, the original track has become the first video in internet history to surpass one billion views.

Passing the milestone this morning (December 21), the clip has seen a massive growth in popularity. It’s just 27 days since the track beat Justin Bieber’s Baby and continues to earn over 76 views every second. In the time it took Baby to earn another 10 million views, Gangnam Style gained almost 200 million

The number is truly massive for one video. In 2010 Lady Gaga celebrated garnering one billion views across all the content on her channel. The NBA recently marked a similar milestone, crossing the one billion barrier with the views earned from over 9,000 videos. In fact, if every view represented a person, Gangnam Style could claim to be the third most populated  country on earth.

YouTube helped Psy celebrate the record breaking performance, placing an animation of the popstar performing his trademark dance next to the magic number.

There is only one way to celebrate such a momentous event…oppa Gangnam Style!