This article was published on July 12, 2013

PSY becomes only the third artist to reach 3 billion views on his YouTube channel


PSY becomes only the third artist to reach 3 billion views on his YouTube channel

Korean pop star PSY took the world by storm with Gangnam Style last year, and the Kpop sensation’s star power doesn’t seem to have diminished at all — with his YouTube channel passing an impressive 3 billion views in the week ending July 14, Billboard reports.

It seems that the explosive influence of PSY can only be matched by Rihanna and Justin Bieber — they are the only other artists whose YouTube channels have received as many views.

Proving that the Kpop sensation’s Gangnam Style wasn’t simply a one-hit wonder (though that is very much debatable), PSY’s new song Gentleman became the most viewed video online in 24 hours — chalking up 38.4 million views within the first day on April 14. It reached 100 million views in barely four days, while Gangnam Style took two months to hit the same milestone.

Currently, PSY’s Gentleman is at nearly 475 million views — almost halfway to 1 billion views.

PSY YouTube screenshot

PSY’s Gangnam Style video was the first to reach one billion views on YouTube after it overtook Justin Bieber’s ‘Baby’ to become the most popular YouTube video of all time, and has now crossed the 1.7 billion plays mark — continuing on its way upward to possibly become the first YouTube video ever to reach 2 billion views.

With his less-than-svelte figure, PSY has been an unlikely candidate to front the Kpop scene — typically made up of young and good-looking star idols.

Image Credit: Tiziana Fabi via AFP/Getty Images

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