15 Must-See YouTube Videos That Left a Mark on Pop Culture

Celebrate YouTube's 15th anniversary with a few must-see videos from Rebecca Black, Justin Bieber, Susan Boyle and more pop culture figures.

By Megan Watkins Feb 14, 2020 11:00 AMTags
Top YouTube Videos, YouTube AnniversaryYouTube

Can you believe today is YouTube's 15th anniversary?!

In the relatively short time we've been using the video sharing platform, many iconic songs, funny fails, late night segments and just simply weird videos have integrated themselves into our lives and defined pop culture. How else are we supposed to explain "Friday" by Rebecca Black being one of our favorite songs in 2011?

We also can't forget that YouTube brought us Justin Bieber back in 2008. We don't even want to imagine what our throwback playlist would be like without the song "One Time."

The creators of YouTube had no idea that what they were programming 15 years ago in a garage in San Mateo, Calif., would be what it is today. After all, it was originally supposed to be an online dating site! Obviously, they made the right decision to move away from this idea as the company is currently evaluated at almost $40 billion.

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Stars Who Were Discovered On Youtube

In honor of YouTube's 15th anniversary, we are sharing 15 of our favorite videos to have been uploaded onto the platform since 2005.

Sit back, relax, put in some headphones and prepare to take a trip down our YouTube memory lane.

"…and that really hurt."

This song took over the world in 2017 and is the most watched YouTube video with more than 6.6 billion views.

Adele can rap?! Yep, still not over it!

There's only word that comes to mind: Swoon!

If we had to sum up this video in three words? "I like turtles."

Kate McKinnon is too funny, and special guest Ryan Gosling agrees.

Let's leave this song in 2012.

@chipheuston94 said "Mindy Kaling is not funny…" and we hate to tell you this, but you're wrong!

We're sorry, but you'll probably be singing this all day because "it's Friday, Friday…"

One of the first viral YouTube videos taught us all the moon walk never gets old.

Kylie Jenner finally answered all our burning questions in the most Kylie way possible.

Two words: Girl squad.

Unfortunately, this song will be stuck in our heads for days.

Is it just us or does Ariana Grande do Britney Spears better than Britney does Britney?

After all these years, we still get chills over Susan Boyle's voice.

Happy anniversary, YouTube! We can't wait to watch what unfolds in the years to come. 

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