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 | 1180 | 4 December 2013 | |
2. | "Ego" [2] | Willy William | 1074 | 2 November 2015 | |
3. | "Papaoutai" [3] | Stromae | 1063 | 6 June 2013 | [upper-alpha 1] |
4. | "Djadja" [5] | Aya Nakamura | 979 | 6 April 2018 | [upper-alpha 2] |
5. | "Zemër" [7] | Dhurata Dora feat. Soolking | 866 | 19 April 2019 | [upper-alpha 3] |
6. | "Les Menottes" [8] | L'Algérino | 752 | 5 May 2017 | |
7. | "Hola Señorita" [9] | Maluma feat. Gims | 613 | 10 May 2019 | |
8. | "Bella" [10] | Maître Gims | 609 | 19 June 2013 | |
9. | "Sapés comme jamais" [11] | Maître Gims feat. Niska | 608 | 19 October 2015 | |
10. | "Copines" [12] | Aya Nakamura | 575 | 24 August 2018 | |
11. | "Ramenez la coupe à la maison" [13] | Vegedream | 565 | 18 July 2018 | |
12. | "Je m'appelle Funny Bear" [14] | Gummibär | 529 | 15 October 2007 | [upper-alpha 4] |
13. | "Bande Organisée" [15] | Jul, SCH, Kofs, Naps, Soso Maness, Elams, Solda and Houari | 528 | 15 August 2020 | |
14. | "Chocolat" [16] | Lartiste feat. Awa Imani | 525 | 17 February 2017 | |
15. | "Est-ce que tu m'aimes?" [17] | Maître Gims | 485 | 4 May 2015 | |
16. | "Magic in the Air" [18] | Magic System feat. Chawki | 475 | 17 March 2014 | |
17. | "Libérée, délivrée" [19] | La Reine des Neiges | 464 | 10 December 2013 | [upper-alpha 5] |
18. | "Mafiosa" [20] | Lartiste feat. Caroliina | 459 | 21 February 2018 | |
19. | "Alors on danse" [21] | Stromae | 454 | 28 April 2010 | |
20. | "Tous les mêmes" [22] | Stromae | 445 | 18 December 2013 | |
As of 8 September 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. | "Lean On" | Major Lazer, DJ Snake feat. MØ | 3.594 | 23 Mar. 2015 | [24] |
2. | "Mi Gente" [25] | J Balvin feat. Willy William | 3.347 | 30 June 2017 | [upper-alpha 1] |
3. | "Taki Taki" | DJ Snake feat. Selena Gomez, Ozuna, Cardi B | 2.563 | 10 Oct. 2018 | [26] |
4. | "Starboy" | The Weeknd feat. Daft Punk | 2.421 | 28 Sept.2016 | [27] |
5. | "Titanium" | David Guetta feat. Sia | 1.843 | 21 Dec. 2011 | [28] |
6. | "Hey Mama" | David Guetta feat. Nicki Minaj, Bebe Rexha, Afrojack | 1.643 | 19 May 2015 | [29] |
7. | "Let Me Love You (Music Video)" | DJ Snake feat. Justin Bieber | 1.434 | 29 Nov. 2016 | [30] |
8. | "I Feel It Coming" | The Weeknd feat. Daft Punk | 1.199 | 10 Mar.2017 | [31] |
9. | "Turn Down For What" | DJ Snake feat. Lil Jon | 1.194 | 14 Mar. 2014 | [32] |
10. | "Play Hard" | David Guetta feat. Ne-Yo, Akon | 1.194 | 23 Apr.2013 | [33] |
As of 07 May 2024 |
"Parce que tu crois" is a song by Armenian-French singer Charles Aznavour. It was released on his 1966 albums La bohème and Chante Paris au mois d'août.
"Stay" is a house song performed by French DJ David Guetta, featuring vocals from singer Chris Willis. The track was released as the second single from Guetta's second studio album, Guetta Blaster on September 13, 2004. The single was not released in the United Kingdom. In certain territories, the single was released as a double A-side with the French only single "Money". A music video for the track exists, but it does not feature either Guetta or Willis. The single found the most success on the Belgian Singles Chart, peaking at #10.
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 and yielding chart-topping singles "Papaoutai" and "Formidable".
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.
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 December 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 French-Congolese 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 next two albums, 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.
"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.
"Bailando" (transl. "Dancing") is a song by Spanish singer-songwriter Enrique Iglesias for his tenth studio album Sex and Love (2014). Written by Iglesias with long-time collaborator Bueno, the first and Spanish version was released with Cuban artists Descemer Bueno and Gente de Zona. Shortly afterward, the official version of the song was released by Universal Republic Records as the sixth single from the album. The song spent 41 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart. "Bailando" was produced by Carlos Paucar.
Djadja & Dinaz is a French hip hop duo from Meaux and made up of Gianni Bellou (Djadja) and Azzedine Hedhli (Dinaz).
Canadian singer Justin Bieber has starred in 111 music videos, 13 films, and has made 24 appearances in several television series. For his debut extended play My World (2009), Bieber released music videos for the singles "One Time", "One Less Lonely Girl", and "Love Me". Bieber released his debut studio-album, My World 2.0 (2010), which produced the hit single "Baby" featuring Ludacris. It broke the Guinness World Record for being the most popular video of any kind online and propelled Bieber to global stardom. As of August 2023, it has accumulated over 3 billion views and 24 million likes on YouTube. Both albums were featured in Bieber's first concert film, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, which became the highest-grossing concert/performance film of all-time at the global box office, with nearly $100 million in earnings. Based on initial tracking, it became the highest-grossing concert movie in the United States since 1984 and the third-highest-grossing documentary since 1982.
Free TV is a 24-hour Pan-Arab musical television channel owned by Nasr Mahrous and headquartered in Cairo, Egypt. Its main target demographic is teenagers, high school and college students and young adults. It has special partnerships with FreeMusic Art Production, Vevo, RedOne, Republic Records, Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group and Sony Music.
"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.
"Ego" is a song by the French singer and producer Willy William. It was released on 24 September 2015 through Play On and Warner Music.
"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.
Les dernières volontés de Mozart or LDVM (Symphony) is the fifth studio album by Congolese-French singer and rapper Gims, which was released on 2 December 2022 on the TF1 Group and Play Two labels.