Views of rock songs on YouTube starting to creep up

January 15, 2020January 15, 2020 Alan Cross 0 Comments

A couple of weeks ago, Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” finally reached the one billion view mark, ten years after it was first officially posted. As of this morning, it sits at 1,013,046,025 views.

Reader Shaun points out that a couple of other rock songs are at these levels.

Guns N’ Roses, “November Rain” – 1,291,189,062 views
Linkin Park, “Numb” – 1,307,827,503
Guns N’ Roses, “Sweet Child O’Mine” – 1,041,009,313

I must be missing some. What other songs are these levels?

Next up, we have:

Linkin Park, “In the End” – 908,727,436 views
System of a Down, “Chop Suey” – 926,925,113

Bottom line? Older rock songs are starting to hit that magical one billion mark. Discuss what that means, given that most YouTube users are younger music fans.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

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