December 22, 2012 10:19

Psy's 'Gangnam Style' becomes first video to hit one billion views on YouTube

K-pop star breaks another record...

Photo: PA

Psy's 'Gangnam Style' has become the first video to rack up one billion views on YouTube, according to reports.

Billboard says that the K-pop star's song reached the milestone yesterday (December 21), just 27 days after it conquered Justin Bieber's 'Baby' to become the most-watched video of all time. According to their figures, it has been watched over 6.5 million times per day since overtaking Bieber - or, alternatively, has been viewed 76.4 times per second.

Psy, whose real name is Park Jae-Sang, has had worldwide success with 'Gangnam Style' and has sold more than 4million copies around the globe. He also bagged the first UK Number One by a Korean artist. Join millions across the world, by scrolling to the bottom of the page and clicking to view the most-watched video on YouTube ever.

Earlier this year, meanwhile, the high-octane video broke YouTube's record for the 'most liked' video ever on the site after hitting over 2,234,180 likes. Guinness World Records reported that the video overshadowed LMFAO's 'Party Rock Anthem', which had 1,574,963 likes, as well as Justin Bieber's 'Baby' which had 1,327,147 likes and Adele's 'Rolling In The Deep' with its 1,245,641 likes.

US President Barack Obama is also a fan, after Psy claimed earlier this week (December 19) that the politician had told him that he likes to do the 'Gangnam Style' dance at home - even though it embarrasses his family. The pair met at a fundraising gig in Washington despite Psy having to apologise days beforehand after it was revealed the singer threatened to kill Americans in 2002.

The musician was revealed to have expressed anti-American views at a performance 10 years ago, following the death of two Korean girls who were run over by a US military vehicle.

Video footage from the time of Psy's protest showed him smashing a model of a US tank into a stage. Two years later he joined a group of other artists onstage to perform the song 'Dear America', written by South Korean metal band NEXT.

The lyrics of the song are reported to include the lines: "Kill those Yankees who have been torturing Iraqi captives/Kill those Yankees who ordered them to torture/Kill their daughters, mothers, daughters-in-law, and fathers/Kill them slowly and painfully".

The rapper has since issued a full apology for the lyrics, saying that he "understands the sacrifices American servicemen and women have made to protect freedom and democracy in my country and around the world".

Psy went on to tell the Hollywood Reporter that he is currently recording a full-length album. He said: "I want everybody's attention."

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