“Pen Pineapple Apple Pen”: The best viral music videos ever

Are you having a sucky day at work? Maybe your boyfriend, girlfriend, or fifty cats are giving you a hard time or Linda from accounts receivable has been screwing with the dishwasher. Whatever your life beef, it is time to leave it at the door and turn your attention to better, lighter, and milkier themes by easing those chops with some music from Doja Cat. The R&B singer built momentum with her track Amala, but it is her bizarre, surrealist video Mooo! that launched her into mainstream glory overnight. Delivering cow-themed one-liners to an amateur R&B beat, Doja dances around in a cow costume while chowing on a Maccies in front of a very questionably edited green screen. It is a riot, a ride, and not something you should take seriously. I just like to do the fun stuff. If I am not having fun with it, I am not going to do it for the rest of my life, Doja told Billboard. I just wanna bring something fun. The current climate is so uptight and serious and it is just good to have something stupid to laugh at. It is funny because it is a joke, but it sounds kinda good. People listen to it like it is a song. And is that not the essence of a viral vid? We have seen a number of music videos rise to mainstream fame seemingly overnight and every single one of them is just a bit of dumb goofball humor that is both catchy but also a silly, light-hearted reminder that life can just be a laugh. So as you let go of your beef and get your cow on to Doja’s tune, here are the best viral music videos ever to jam to and remind yourself not to take life so seriously.

“I’ll just explain how this video fell apart”

The music video for Young Thug’s Wyclef Jean became an instant sensation, but not because of the track, but more the circumstances around how it was filmed. Director Ryan Staake had to shoot the whole thing without the video’s star present, because Young Thug decided to be a diva and not even show up for filming. At his wits end, Staake transformed his nightmarish experience into an incredible video in which he shows how their plans to film managed to crash and burn. It makes Young Thug look like a D-bag, and is coincidentally one of his most popular music videos.

Ground control to Major Tom

Shoutout to Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield for making Bowie in space a reality by sneaking his guitar out of the stratosphere and into the cosmos to perform David Bowie’s Space Oddity where it was always meant to be performed. Hadfield truly does Bowie proud by putting his all into the performance. It is totally out of this world.

So high

Proving Doja Cat’s propensity for repetitive lyrics, catchy beats, and mind-bending visuals, her video for So High is perfect to, well, get high to! Spark up a fatty and jam to this sleazy beat. Mooo! helped launch her visibility; subsequent hits like Say So reached hundreds of millions of views.

Pen pineapple, apple pen

It is a minute long, makes absolutely no sense, and we are not quite sure why it is a thing. But it is and now it is ingrained in pop culture having garnered more than 509 million views. And because of an imaginary pen, an imaginary pineapple, an imaginary apple, and a very real dude wearing a very questionable leopard print suit. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

One pound fish

Muhammad Shahid Nazir’s story is one of viral video legend. It started with a highly catchy song he used to sing at Queens Market in London to sell very, very cheap fish. Someone filmed it, it went viral, and everyone loved it. So much so that he went on to star in his very own high-production One Pound Fish music video. The original’s better if you ask us. Nazir returned to Pakistan due to visa issues and has not maintained mainstream presence. And thus a star was born, and it all started with a £1 fish.

This is America

We know we said we are looking at silly, goofball videos and this entry is sandwiched between One Pound Fish and the Guacamole Song for crying out loud, and this is not that. But we will take any moment to give a nod to Childish Gambino and his epic satirical video for This is America, which has hit nearly 980 million views for Donald Glover’s astounding theatrical performance with a bold political message at the heart of it.

Peel the avocado

Serving hipster parents across the globe, a woman named Dr. Jean released this bizarre music video in which she encourages kids to sing and dance about a damn avocado. It is strange, funny, and kinda unsettling.

“Here It Goes Again”

This is the video that kickstarted OK Go’s turn as the greatest music video creators of all time, and sees them performing a meticulously practiced treadmill dance. So much a success was this video and the ones that followed, the band has arguably become more famous for their videos than for their music itself. Not that we are complaining. For more incredible visuals, check out Upside Down & Inside Out and This Too Shall Pass.

He’s climbing in your window

Antoine Dodson rose to overnight fame after giving the now infamous news interview about a home intrusion, which was filled with so much theatrical vigor that The Gregory Brothers auto-tuned the passionate reaction and turned it into one of the catchiest YouTube music videos of all time. Hide your kids, hide your wife!

TikTok-era dance challenges

Many 2024-2026 viral hits spread primarily through TikTok challenges and remixes rather than traditional music video releases. Examples include tracks like APT and various PinkPantheress releases gaining traction via short-form platforms. The format rewards quick, repeatable moves that users film in their bedrooms and living rooms, turning a thirty-second clip into global conversation within days.

AI-generated or meme-driven visuals

Viral lists now include Vocaloid or animated derivative works that gained millions of views in 2024. Platform algorithms favor quick, shareable meme formats over polished productions, so creators lean into surreal edits, text overlays, and recycled footage that feel instantly familiar. The result is a wave of videos that look nothing like traditional shoots yet rack up numbers faster than most label-backed releases.

K-pop and global pop crossovers

Videos like certain Blackpink releases surpassed 2 billion views. Netflix-tied tracks such as Golden from KPop Demon Hunters achieved rapid virality. These productions mix high-concept choreography, cinematic lighting, and global fanbases that treat every new drop like an event, pushing international artists into spaces once dominated by Western pop.

Space and novelty performance revivals

The Hadfield Space Oddity remains iconic but newer examples of location-based viral performances exist. Artists have staged rooftop sets during storms, underwater concerts, and zero-gravity shoots that echo the original spirit of goofball humor while proving that a strong concept still travels without a massive budget.

The list keeps growing because the internet loves a hook that sticks in your head and a visual that makes you hit replay. From an astronaut in orbit to a fishmonger in East London, the best viral videos remind us that timing, absurdity, and a little bit of nerve can turn a simple idea into something that outlives the news cycle. Keep the volume up and the expectations low, and the next one could drop any minute.