Beautiful Virgin Islands

Friday, Aug 29, 2025

Baby Shark becomes YouTube's most-watched video of all time

Baby Shark, the infuriatingly catchy children's rhyme recorded by South Korean company Pinkfong, has become the most-watched video ever on YouTube.

The song has now been played 7.04 billion times, overtaking the previous record holder Despacito, the Latin pop smash by singer Luis Fonsi.

Played back-to-back, that would mean Baby Shark has been streamed continuously for 30,187 years.

Pinkfong stands to have made about $5.2m (£4m) from YouTube streams alone.

It took four years for Baby Shark to ascend to the top of YouTube's most-played chart, but the song is actually much older than that.

It is thought to have originated in US summer camps in the 1970s. One theory says it was invented in 1975, as Steven Spielberg's Jaws became an box office smash around the world.

There are a huge number of variations on the basic premise, including one version where a surfer loses an arm to the shark, and another where the protagonist dies.

There are also international versions - including the French Bebe Requin and the German Kleiner Hai (Little Shark), which became a minor hit in Europe in 2007.

But none of them could match the phenomenal success of Pinkfong's interpretation, which was sung by 10-year-old Korean-American singer Hope Segoine and uploaded to YouTube in 2015.

It's addictive "doo doo doo doo doo doo" hook and fishy dance moves became a craze in South Korea, where popular bands like Red Velvet, Girls' Generation and Blackpink started incorporating it into their concerts.

The following June, Pinkfong put out a second video, titled Baby Shark Dance, featuring two cute kids performing the dance routine.

That clip that inspired the hashtag #BabySharkChallenge - with everyone from Indonesian farmworkers to pop stars Cardi B and Josh Groban joining the fun.

The song is catnip for children, whose appetite for repetition has undoubtedly helped it climb the ranks of YouTube's most-watched videos.

"Nursery rhymes have always been sort of slow, very cute, but something that would help your children fall asleep - as opposed to Baby Shark," Pinkfong's marketing director Jamie Oh told the BBC in 2018.

"Pinkfong's Baby Shark is very trendy and it has a very bright beat with fun dance moves. The animation is very vivid. We call it K-Pop for the next generation."

The company is turning the song into a movie and a musical, and aspires to make Baby Shark "another classic for kids music, like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", Oh added.

Prison torture claim


However, Pinkfong's parent company SmartStudy was sued last year by children's songwriter Jonathan Wright, who recorded a similar arrangement of the song in 2011 and argues that he owns the copyright to that interpretation.

SmartStudy responded that their verison was "based on a traditional sing-along chant which has passed to public domain". The case is still under consideration by the Korea Copyright Commission.

Last month, the song was at the centre of another controversy, when three prison workers in Oklahoma were accused of using it to punish inmates.

According to court documents, five prisoners were handcuffed against a wall and forced to stand for two hours while listening to Baby Shark on repeat.

Exposure to the song put "undue emotional stress on the inmates who were most likely already suffering", said district attorney David Prater.

But the song has also been put to positive use.

When Eliane Jabbour unexpectedly found herself in the middle of an anti-government demonstration in Lebanon last October, she was concerned the commotion would scare her 15-month-old son, who had just woken from a nap in the passenger seat of her car.

Instead, the protestors circled her car and sang Baby Shark to help calm the toddler down.

A video of the episode in Beirut - with Robin staring wide-eyed at the singing and dancing - itself went viral, and became a symbol of hope amid the protests.


Baby Shark: It's got a catchy tune and plans for world domination - but the toddler hit is older than you think


Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
A new faith called Robotheism claims artificial intelligence isn’t just smart but actually God itself
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner Purchases Third Property Amid Housing Tax Reforms Debate
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Italian Facebook Group Sharing Intimate Images Without Consent Shut Down Amid Police Investigation
Dutch Foreign Minister Resigns Amid Deadlock Over Israel Sanctions
Trump and Allies Send Messages of Support to Ukraine on Independence Day Amid Ongoing Conflict
China Reels as Telegram Chat Group Shares Hidden-Camera Footage of Women and Children
Sam Nicoresti becomes first transgender comedian to win Edinburgh Comedy Award
Builders uncover historic human remains in Lancashire house renovation
Australia Wants to Tax Your Empty Bedrooms
MotoGP Cameraman Narrowly Avoids Pedro Acosta Crash at Hungarian Grand Prix
FBI Investigates John Bolton Over Classified Documents in High-Profile Raids
Report reveals OpenAI pitched national ChatGPT Plus subscription to UK ministers
Labour set to freeze income tax thresholds in long-term 'stealth' tax raid
Coca‑Cola explores sale of Costa coffee chain
Trial hears dog walker was chased and fatally stabbed by trio
Restaurateur resigns from government hospitality council over tax criticism
Spanish City funfair shut after serious ride injury
Suspected arson at Ilford restaurant leaves three in critical condition
Tottenham beat Manchester City to go top of Premier League
Bank holiday heatwave to hit 30°C before remnants of Hurricane Erin arrive
UK to deploy immigration advisers to West Africa to block fake visas
×