Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” was the first YouTube video to reach 200 million views.
The song appeared on Gaga’s 2009 extended play The Fame Monster, a reissue-related project connected to her debut album The Fame. Written and produced with RedOne, “Bad Romance” became one of Gaga’s signature songs, combining electropop and dance-pop with an elaborate, surreal music video directed by Francis Lawrence.
In May 2010, the video became the first on YouTube to pass 200 million views and briefly became the platform’s most-viewed video. That milestone reflected the way music videos were increasingly becoming global online events rather than merely television programming.
The video is often remembered for its white bathhouse setting, geometric choreography, futuristic costumes and dramatic ending. It earned ten nominations at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards and won seven, including Video of the Year. It later passed one billion views in January 2019. The answer is not “Poker Face,” “Just Dance” or “Telephone,” although each was also a major Gaga video.