YouTube is an American video-sharing website headquartered in San Bruno, California.
In 2012, "Je m'appelle Funny Bear" by German virtual singer Gummibär became the first French-language music video to reach 100 million views.
In 2023, Indila's song "Dernière Danse" became the first music video in French to reach 1 billion views.
The following table lists the 20 most viewed French-language music videos on YouTube with their approximative view count, uploader, artist, language and upload date.
Indila's song "Dernière danse" is currently the most-viewed music video that is sung in the French language.
No. | Video name | Uploader | Views (millions) | Upload date | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Dernière danse" [1] | Indila | 1118 | 4 December 2013 | |
2. | "Ego" [2] | Willy William | 1042 | 2 November 2015 | |
3. | "Papaoutai" [3] | Stromae | 1037 | 6 June 2013 | [upper-alpha 1] |
4. | "Djadja" [5] | Aya Nakamura | 958 | 6 April 2018 | [upper-alpha 2] |
5. | "Zemër" [7] | Dhurata Dora feat. Soolking | 837 | 19 April 2019 | [upper-alpha 3] |
6. | "Les Menottes" [8] | L'Algérino | 740 | 5 May 2017 | |
7. | "Hola Señorita" [9] | Maluma feat. Gims | 599 | 10 May 2019 | |
8. | "Bella" [10] | Maître Gims | 595 | 19 June 2013 | |
9. | "Sapés comme jamais" [11] | Maître Gims feat. Niska | 593 | 19 October 2015 | |
10. | "Copines" [12] | Aya Nakamura | 552 | 24 August 2018 | |
11. | "Ramenez la coupe à la maison" [13] | Vegedream | 542 | 18 July 2018 | |
12. | "Je m'appelle Funny Bear" [14] | Gummibär | 526 | 15 October 2007 | [upper-alpha 4] |
13. | "Chocolat" [15] | Lartiste feat. Awa Imani | 516 | 17 February 2017 | |
14. | "Bande Organisée" [16] | Jul, SCH, Kofs, Naps, Soso Maness, Elams, Solda and Houari | 506 | 15 August 2020 | |
15. | "Est-ce que tu m'aimes?" [17] | Maître Gims | 464 | 4 May 2015 | |
16. | "Magic in the Air" [18] | Magic System feat. Chawki | 457 | 17 March 2014 | |
17. | "Libérée, délivrée" [19] | La Reine des Neiges | 457 | 10 December 2013 | [upper-alpha 5] |
18. | "Mafiosa" [20] | Lartiste feat. Caroliina | 450 | 21 February 2018 | |
19. | "Alors on danse" [21] | Stromae | 432 | 28 April 2010 | |
20. | "Tous les mêmes" [22] | Stromae | 431 | 18 December 2013 | |
As of 13 April 2024 |
Notes
A metric of a video's popularity is the "Billion View Club", denoting videos which have succeeded in reaching over 1 billion views since their initial upload. [23] Released on 30 June 2017, "Mi Gente" became the first music video by a French artist to reach one billion views, although this version of the song is not in French. Only three French-language videos, "Dernière Danse", "Papaoutai" and "Ego" have hit the 1 billion view mark, the most recent occurring on 14 September 2023.
No. | Video name | Uploader | Views (billions) | Upload date | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Mi Gente" [24] | J Balvin feat. Willy William | 3.339 | 30 June 2017 | [upper-alpha 1] |
As of 13 April 2024 |
"I'm a Gummy Bear (The Gummy Bear Song)" is a novelty dance song by Gummibär, in reference to the gummy bear, a type of bear-shaped candy originating in Germany. It was written by German composer Christian Schneider and released by Gummibär's label Gummybear International. The song was first released in Hungary, where it spent eight months as number one atop the ringtones chart.
Paul van Haver, better known by his stage name Stromae, is a Belgian singer, rapper, songwriter and producer. He is mostly known for his music blending hip hop and electronic music. Stromae came to wide public attention in 2009 with his song "Alors on danse", which became a number one in several European countries. In 2013, his second album Racine carrée was a commercial success, selling two million copies in France. The main singles from the album include "Papaoutai" and "Formidable". Stromae also has a series of “leçons” that show how he makes his songs.
The discography of Belgian singer-songwriter Stromae consists of three studio albums, one extended play, 21 singles and five promotional singles.
Wolfgang Boss is a German music executive, producer and president of A&R for Sony Music Entertainment company. Wolfgang holds the position of Sony Music's Executive President A&R globally since 2012. With more than 100 gold and platinum certifications Wolfgang Boss is one of the most successful A&R executives of the last two decades.
José Álvaro Osorio Balvín, known professionally as J Balvin, is a Colombian singer. He has been referred to as the "Prince of Reggaeton", and is one of the best-selling Latin artists, with over 35 million records sold worldwide. Balvin was born in Medellín. At age 17, he moved to the United States to learn English, where he lived in both Oklahoma and New York. He then returned to Medellín and gained popularity performing at clubs in the city.
Adila Sedraïa, known professionally as Indila, is a French singer-songwriter and record producer. She collaborated with many musicians on vocals and lyrics prior to releasing her first single, Dernière danse, in November 2013, which reached SNEP second in France and became in December 2023, 10 years after its release, the first French-language song to exceed one billion views on YouTube. She released her debut album Mini World in February 2014.
Gandhi Alimasi Djuna, better known by his stage name Maître Gims and more recently just Gims, is a Congolese-French singer, rapper, producer, and songwriter. He grew up in France and currently lives in France and Morocco. He is a former member of the hip hop group Sexion d'Assaut and released his first major album, Subliminal in 2013. The album sold over a million copies in France and peaked at number two in the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. His other two albums follow: Mon cœur avait raison in 2015 and Ceinture noire in 2018 reached number one in France and Belgium (Wallonia) and peaked in the top 40 in various European countries, including Denmark, Italy, and Switzerland.
"Papaoutai" is a song written and performed by Belgian singer Stromae. The song was released as a digital download in Belgium on 13 May 2013 as the lead single from his second studio album Racine carrée (2013). The song peaked at number one in Belgium and France and became the best-selling single of 2013 in Belgium. A remix of the song featuring Angel Haze also appears on the album.
Subliminal is the debut solo album by Congolese-French singer and rapper Maître Gims. The 18-track album was released 20 May 2013 on Wati B and Monstre Marin Corporation, the latter founded by Maître Gims himself. The lyrics were all by Maître Gims whereas the music was by Maître Gims, Renaud Rebillaud and Stan-E Music. The album was a great success charting in France, Belgium as well as charting in Switzerland.
"Ils sont cools" is a song by French rapper Orelsan featuring fellow French rapper and Casseurs Flowters member Gringe. Produced by Spanish producer-DJ duo Cookin' Soul, it was released on 22 June 2012 as the sixth and final single from Orelsan's second studio album Le chant des sirènes. It entered the French Singles Chart at number 143 on 23 June 2012, and has since peaked at number 66.
The following article outlines the discography of French rapper, songwriter and record producer Orelsan, which includes four solo studio albums, two extended plays and multiple singles. He is also one half of the French hip hop duo Casseurs Flowters, along with Gringe, with whom he has released two studio albums.
"Dernière danse" is a song recorded by French singer-songwriter Indila. It served as the first single from her debut album, Mini World.
Kendji "Girac" Jason Maillié, also known mononymously as Kendji is a French singer. He is the winner of season 3 of the music competition The Voice: la plus belle voix as part of Team Mika. He has released five studio albums, Kendji,Ensemble, Amigo, Mi Vida, and L'école de la vie'luka', as well as a string of hit singles.
Aya Danioko, known professionally as Aya Nakamura, is a French-Malian singer-songwriter.
"Mi Gente" is a song recorded by Colombian singer J Balvin and French singer and producer Willy William. It was released on 30 June 2017 through Scorpio Music and Universal Music Latin. It is a remake of Willy William's song "Voodoo Song" which is an original French song by Willy William that went viral on Facebook in 2016 and released one year after. The single was serviced to United States contemporary hit radio on 18 July 2017. A remix version with American singer Beyoncé was released on 28 September 2017. J Balvin and Willy William released six more "Mi Gente" remixes on 20 October 2017 with Steve Aoki, Alesso, Cedric Gervais, Dillon Francis, Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano, and Henry Fong.
"Mi Gna" is a song in Armenian and English by Armenian-American rapper Super Sako and features vocals by the Armenian rabiz singer Spitakci Hayko.
Gandhi Bilel Djuna, better known by his stage name Maître Gims and more recently just Gims, is a DR Congolese singer-songwriter and rapper. He grew up in France and currently lives in France and Morocco. He is a former member of the hip hop group Sexion d'Assaut and released his first major album, Subliminal in 2013. The album sold over a million copies in France and peaked at number two in the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. His other two albums follow: Mon cœur avait raison in 2015 and Ceinture noire in 2018 reached number one in France and Belgium (Wallonia) and peaked in the top 40 in various European countries, including Denmark, Italy and Switzerland.
Peligrosa is a song of the Moroccan singer Lartiste and the Colombian singer Karol G, it was recorded in 2018 and was released in 31 January 2019 in YouTube, has of April 2020, the song has 27 million views.
Le fléau is the fourth studio album by Congolese-French singer and rapper Gims, released on 4 December 2020 on the TF1 Group and Play Two labels.
"Yolo" is a song performed by Congolese-French singer and rapper Gims, released on 28 August 2020. The song is the first single from the album Le Fléau. It is written by Gims, composed by Boumidjal X. It was released on 28 August 2020 the first single from the album Le Fléau under the labels Play Two, Chahawat and Sony Music.