- Who
- Queen
- What
- 43:254 year(s)
- Where
- Not Applicable ()
- When
The video for “Bohemian Rhapsody”, by UK rock band Queen, achieved its billionth view on YouTube on 22 July 2019. The iconic six-minute clip, which was reportedly shot in just four hours on 10 November 1975 and was originally posted to the video-sharing platform by “Queen Official” on 1 August 2008, was 43 years 254 days old when it reached the milestone. To celebrate 1 billion views, a remastered version of the video, starring Freddie Mercury and co., was uploaded to YouTube.
“Bohemian Rhapsody” is the first pre-1990s song to attract 1 billion views on YouTube (the first video of any kind on YouTube was uploaded on 23 April 2005). “Sweet Child O’ Mine” (1987; 966.7 million views) by Guns N’ Roses and A-ha’s “Take on Me” (1985; 916.8 million views) were the other pre-‘90s songs with 900 million+ views on YouTube as of 25 July 2019. Guns N’ Roses’ “November Rain” (1992), meanwhile, had 1.2 billion views as of the same date and remains the most popular music video on YouTube from the pre-YouTube era.
Although some artists – including Queen – had previously made video clips to accompany the release of songs, it was only after the success of "Bohemian Rhapsody" that it became common for record companies to request promotional videos for singles, which could be used on shows such as Top of the Pops without the need for an act to appear live and perform (or often mime) the track.
The “Bohemian Rhapsody” music video saw a resurgence in popularity after the release of the same-titled movie in 2018, starring Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury. The film earned a record of its own as the highest-grossing biographical movie.
“Bohemian Rhapsody” was the first single to reach No.1 on two separate occasions on the UK’s Official Singles Chart: for nine consecutive weeks from 29 November 1975, and then for five consecutive weeks from 21 December 1991 – as a double A-side with “These Are the Days of Our Lives” – following the death of the band’s charismatic frontman on 24 November 1991.
The remastered video prompted fans around the world to post their favourite memories of Queen, while another contributor, tongue in cheek, said: “BohRhap finally reached 1 billion views… now only 5 billion more to go to catch Despacito.”
