Rewind 2019

Every day, creators and artists across the globe share their talents on YouTube and create unforgettable moments along the way. Scroll to rewind the stories and videos that defined 2019.

Explore the big stories on YouTube in

Lil Nas X

With the single “Old Town Road,” Lil Nas X emerged from obscurity to set the record for most consecutive weeks at #1 on YouTube’s U.S. Top Songs chart. Rapped over a beat found on YouTube, popularized by memes on social platforms, and remixed relentlessly, the song also provided a new blueprint for using digital culture to build and promote music. And when the song finally lost its place atop the chart, it was replaced by Lil Nas X’s second single, “Panini.”

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Shane Dawson

Shane Dawson uploaded just 11 videos in 2019 -- but, in total, they generated more than 238 million views. And each video, with the exception of one trailer, ran more than 50 minutes in length, a testament to the success of the long-form docuseries format he kicked off in 2018. With these videos, he established a new way to tell personal stories beyond the traditional vlog, elevating creator collaborations and addressing tough questions in a way that consistently built anticipation for what would come next. For Dawson, what came next was the launch of a new beauty line in October -- the reveal of which became the #3 Most Liked Beauty Video of the year globally.

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MrBeast

With the most liked creator video of the year, one of the top trending videos of year, and one of the most viewed YouTube channels of the year, MrBeast’s presence and impact were impossible to ignore. And, ultimately, he used that influence to bring the YouTube community together — through ultra-charitable challenge videos; a collective endeavor to create the most liked video ever; and a massive creator collaboration, #TeamTrees. Within the first week of launching the campaign with Mark Rober, over 3,800 videos were uploaded with the #TeamTrees tag, as creators around the world joined the effort to raise $20 million to plant 20 million trees.

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Minecraft

Despite its long history of popularity, Minecraft experienced a marked increase in attention this year. Its resurgence paralleled the decision by YouTube’s most subscribed creator, PewDiePie, to re-engage with the game in late June. The month after PewDiePie posted “Minecraft Part 1” -- his first Minecraft video in years -- uploads of videos related to the game reached an all-time high. And Minecraft, once again, returned to its place atop the most-viewed games of the year list.

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The Race to 100M

When PewDiePie began his channel in 2010, the most subscribed creator on YouTube, Ryan Higa, had just over 2 million subscribers; 100 million would have seemed a near-impossible accomplishment. Over a decade later, PewDiePie and T-Series achieved the seemingly impossible, both crossing 100 million subscribers within months of each other, a demonstration not only of their connections with fans, but also of the massive growth of YouTube.

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BTS & BLACKPINK

In 2019, BTS set a new all-time record for the biggest music video debut in YouTube history, a fact that not only confirms K-pop’s cross-cultural ascendancy, but also the undeniable power and support of its fans. When BTS’ “Boy With Luv” was released in April, it generated 74.6 million views in its first 24 hours. That number surpassed fellow K-pop group BLACKPINK, who had set the previous 24-hour debut record earlier that month, with 56.7 million views for “Kill This Love.”

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Billie Eilish

In early April, Billie Eilish climbed to #1 on the U.S. Top Artists chart, landing eight tracks, including “Bad Guy” and “Bury A Friend,” on the U.S. Top Songs chart. It was “Bad Guy” that rose to the top, becoming one of the most viewed music videos of the year globally. The haunting beats and eerie visuals of Eilish’s music also inspired creativity across YouTube and showcased the untraditional pop star’s appeal in digital culture. For example, Seth Everman’s parody video, “How To Create Billie Eilish’s ‘Bad Guy’,” became one of the most shared videos of the year in the U.S.

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Jennelle Eliana

Jennelle Eliana posted the first videos to her channel in the early summer of 2019. The newcomer was July’s most-subscribed creator in the U.S., surpassing 1.6 million subscribers. The key to her speedy success lies in the content: Eliana’s videos tap into two growing YouTube trends, van life and solo travel, and her lo-fi aesthetic is representative of a rising generation of YouTube stars, including Emma Chamberlain and Joana Ceddia. Together, this next-gen group of creators is proving that authenticity -- editing mistakes and all -- creates a powerful connection with viewers.

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James Charles & Tati

When the back-and-forth between two of the beauty community’s largest creators, James Charles and Tati Westbrook, gained widespread attention in May, it exemplified how a once-niche content category has evolved to a position of mainstream prominence. Westbook and Charles — whose video reflecting on the situation became the #1 top trending video of the year in the U.S. — are not just stars within the beauty industry, but also creators whose influence and fan bases extend far beyond the confines of a single genre. The same could be said of Jeffree Star and Shane Dawson, whose collaborative series resulted in a sold-out product line and over 115 million views.

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The Evolution of Coming Out Videos

Within the span of three weeks in June, three top creators — Daniel Howell and Phil Lester of the iconic duo Dan & Phil, and Eugene Lee Yang of the Try Guys — uploaded coming out videos that made waves across YouTube. Howell’s went on to become the #8 Most Liked Video in the UK and Yang’s was the #25 Most Liked Creator videos globally. The videos stood out for their high production value -- Howell introduced elements of animation while Yang choreographed a cinematic music video -- showing how ever-evolving modes of artistic expression can be used to tell personal stories online.

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Global Snapshot

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The Year in Video

Look back at some of the year’s most viewed, most liked and biggest video releases of the year.

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