Nirvana’s video for “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, the band’s biggest hit, reached a major milestone this week. The video has garnered more than one billion views on YouTube, crossing the threshold of one billion on Christmas Day, December 25th.
The week prior, bassist Krist Novoselic declared in a Tweet that the one billionth view would be for late founding member, Kurt Cobain.
“Thanks to you all!!!!” Novoselic said in a Tweet following the milestone.
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” was released in 1991 as the lead single from the band’s Nevermind album. It propelled Nirvana to the top of the album charts in early 1992 and marked a turning point for grunge music entering the mainstream.
Earlier this month, YouTube released a list of the most popular videos of all time based on number of views. Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee top the list with more than 6.5 billion views of their 2017 Latin pop hit “Despacito”.
In July 2018, Guns N’ Roses‘ “November Rain” reached one billion views, making it the first video made prior to YouTube’s creation to reach the threshold. Earlier this year, Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” became the first pre-1990’s video to reach the billion-view milestone.
