YouTube's top trends of 2015, plus a "Rewind" that sums it up

The year is quickly coming to a close, and 2015 was a big year for both YouTube stars and regular folks who had their 15 minutes of fame on the video platform.
What defined 2015? The whip/nae nae dance, lip sync battles and mean tweets segments from the "Tonight Show" with Jimmy Fallon, pranks and more.
YouTube stars redefine fame

Here are the top 10 trending YouTube videos of 2015; these 10 videos were watched for more than 25 million hours.
  1. Silento- Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) #WatchMeDanceOn
  2. Clash of Clans: Revenge (Official Super Bowl TV Commercial)
  3. Crazy Plastic Ball PRANK!!
  4. Love Has No Labels | Diversity & Inclusion | Ad Council
  5. Lip Sync Battle with Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart and Jimmy Fallon
  6. Justin Bieber Carpool Karaoke
  7. 6ft Man in 6ft Giant Water Balloon - 4K - The Slow Mo Guys
  8. Golden boy Calum Scott hits the right note | Audition Week 1 | Britain's Got Talent 2015
  9. Dover Police DashCam Confessional (Shake it Off)
  10. Mean Tweets - President Obama Edition

As for music videos, Wiz Khalifa topped the list with "See You Again ft. Charlie Puth," followed by Maroon 5's video for "Sugar," which showed the band doing surprise shows at weddings. Naturally, "Bad Blood" by Taylor Swift and "Hello" by Adele made the cut, as did the official "Whip/Nae Nae" video.

1. Wiz Khalifa - "See You Again ft. Charlie Puth [Official Video] Furious 7 Soundtrack"
2. Maroon 5 - "Sugar"
3. Ellie Goulding - "Love Me Like You Do (Official Video)"
4. Major Lazer & DJ Snake - "Lean On (feat. MØ) (Official Music Video)"
5. Taylor Swift - "Bad Blood ft. Kendrick Lamar"
6. David Guetta - "Hey Mama (Official Video) ft Nicki Minaj, Bebe Rexha & Afrojack"
7. Sia - "Elastic Heart feat. Shia LaBeouf & Maddie Ziegler (Official Video)"
8. Fifth Harmony - "Worth It ft. Kid Ink"
9. Adele - "Hello"
10. Silentó - "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) (Official)"

Those are the top videos, but we all know people love to go to YouTube just to listen to their favorite songs sometimes. What were the 10 most popular music uploads that featured only sound? A couple of them might surprise you -- some of the songs were not even from 2015. "All About That Bass" was released in 2014, and people are still listening to "Gangnam Style" all the way back from 2012.

  1. "Uptown Funk"
  2. "See You Again (feat. Charlie Puth)" - Universal Pictures Film Music
  3. "Thinking Out Loud"
  4. "Gangnam Style"
  5. "Blank Space"
  6. "Sugar"
  7. "Shake It Off"
  8. "All About That Bass"
  9. "Chandelier"
  10. "Cheerleader - Felix Jaehn Remix Radio Edit"

But if you want to catch all of 2015's trends without watching every video, watch YouTube Rewind, which sums up the top trending video themes, dance moves, Internet stars and more in one video -- think of it as a video that captures the spirit of 2015, but with lots of celebrities. Look out for stars like Lilly Singh, James Corden, John Oliver, Karlie Kloss, T-Pain and more. Keep your eye out, too, for appearances from ghosts of YouTube past, like Rebecca Black and the Double Rainbow dude.

f

We and our partners use cookies to understand how you use our site, improve your experience and serve you personalized content and advertising. Read about how we use cookies in our cookie policy and how you can control them by clicking Manage Settings. By continuing to use this site, you accept these cookies.