Vevo’s year-end statistics show that Future and Drake’s “Life is Good” is the most viewed Vevo video of 2020, with 1.3 billion views globally; and J Balvin is the most viewed Vevo artist, with 2.7 billion views worldwide. Both cool, and you can see the top 10s below.
But arguably more interesting are the songs and videos that surged in monthly views in response to global events, according to Vevo’s internal analytics:
Late January: Europe’s “The Final Countdown” jumped 161% in the wake of the UK officially leaving the European Union.
In March: As COVID-19 is declared a pandemic by World Health Organization,
R.E.M.’s “It’s The End Of The World as We Know It” went up 2719%;
The Police’s “Don’t Stand So Close To Me” surged 1070%.
In late May: As Black Lives Matter protests and marches began across the world,
The Rolling Stones’ “Street Fighting Man” soared 140%;
Angie Stone’s “Brotha” rose 115%;
Public Enemy’s “Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos” climbed 105%.
In early June: As the protests continued,
Several songs by Rage Against the Machine, including “Bombtrack,” “Bulls on Parade,” “Freedom,” “Guerilla Radio,” “Killing in the Name” and “Testify” rose between 200 and 100%;
Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” soared 225%
2 Chainz’s “Riot” climbed 294%;
Ice Cube’s “Good Cop Bad Cop” rose 183%.
On November 3, Election Day,
YG and Nipsey Hussle’s “Fuck Donald Trump” got a 740% boost;
Pink’s “Dear Mr. President” rose 266%;
Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power” climbed 255%;
Common and John Legend’s “Glory” rose 202%
And on November 7, when Joe Biden was declared the next president of the United States,
Mary J. Blige’s “Work That,” the walk-on song for Kamala Harris’ victory speech, soared nearly 4,000%;
Kool & the Gang’s “Celebration” rose 812%;
U2’s “Beautiful Day” climbed 180%;
and Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the U.S.A.,” Pharrell Williams’s “Happy” and Nsync’s “Bye Bye Bye” all saw big boosts.
