Guns N’ Roses’ “November Rain” became the first music video released before YouTube to reach one billion views there.
The epic video, directed by Andy Morahan, was released in 1992 and is built around a dramatic wedding narrative, concert performance scenes and imagery connected with loss. It was made for the band’s third studio album, Use Your Illusion I, and became one of the defining rock videos of the 1990s.
In July 2018, “November Rain” became the first video made before YouTube existed to pass one billion views on the platform. That achievement highlighted the long afterlife of major music videos in the streaming era. YouTube launched in 2005, more than a decade after the video’s original release.
The record is sometimes confused with early YouTube milestones achieved by newer videos such as “Gangnam Style” or “Despacito.” Those videos set major overall viewing records, while “November Rain” was notable specifically for being a pre-YouTube release.