Beyoncé’s Iconic ‘Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)’ Music Video Surpasses 1 Billion Views on YouTube
If you like it, then you should’ve put a ring on it — but a billion views isn’t a bad compromise. Fresh off of being named Billboard‘s No. 1 greatest pop star of the 21st century, Beyoncé‘s iconic music video for “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” has surpassed one billion views on YouTube a full 15 years after it was first uploaded, becoming her second visual to reach the milestone after “Halo.”
In the three-and-a-half-minute black-and-white video, Bey — flanked by two other dancers in leggy black leotards — dances her heart out for the entirety of the empowering, insanely catchy I Am… Sasha Fierce single. “If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it/ Don’t be mad once you see that he want it,” she sings, staring down the camera.
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Both the track and visual serve as some of the most iconic pieces in Bey’s career. In addition to “Single Ladies” spending four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2008, the Jake Nava-directed visual’s continuous dance sequence — choreographed by Frank Gatson Jr. and JaQuel Knight — found the 32-time Grammy winner flawlessly executing a series of generation-defining moves that are still being replicated today.
Plus, the “Single Ladies” video was behind one of the buzziest moments of 2009: Ye, then known still as Kanye West, memorably interrupting Taylor Swift’s VMAs acceptance speech for best female video and declaring that Bey’s project — being “one of the best videos of all time,” as he put it — should’ve won instead.
In the moment, the “Texas Hold ‘Em” singer was stunned — and a little horrified — but flipped the script when “Single Ladies” later won video of the year. Forfeiting her own acceptance-speech time, Bey famously invited Billboard‘s future No. 2 greatest pop star of the 21st century back on stage to finish her thank yous.
Add your view to more than a billion others by watching “Single Ladies” above.
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