It’s been a big year for numbers. Adele’s “Hello,” off her upcoming 25, has dethroned Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood,” from her 1989, as the reigning music video views champion on Vevo.
The top streaming platform recorded 27.7 million views in the first 24 hours since Adele’s video, her first since 2011, went online. Swift’s “Bad Blood,” with its seemingly-endless roster of stars and accompanying Instagram posts, racked up “just” 20.1 million when it debuted in May.
Adele’s video could not be more different than Swift’s. Whereas “Bad Blood” featured a guest verse from Kendrick Lamar and and whirling set of action set pieces, Adele’s features not much more than the singer’s voice and moody black-and-white shots of relatively (compared to “Bad Blood” anyways) staid scenes. The video was shot using IMAX cameras and also stars Tristan Wilds, known for appearing on The Wire.
“My last record was a break-up record,” Adele said of her new album, due out November 20, on Facebook, “and if I had to label this one, I’d call it a make-up record. I’m making up with myself. Making up for lost time. Making up for everything I ever did and never did.”
“Hello” has been viewed nearly 82 million times at the time this article was written. It has a ways to go yet catch up to Taylor in total views, as ”Bad Blood” is nearing 600 million.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
The song has generated a lot of heat since her label ran a cryptic ad during the British X-Factor broadcast last week. Though the ad contained only a few lines of song, speculation ran rampant — and largely correctly. Since its release, this short video mashup of “Hello” and Lionel Richie’s 1983 hit has highlighted the fan response.
The previous streaming record was held by Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda,” which generated 19.6 million views in August of 2014. Before that, Miley Cyrus’s “Wrecking Ball” garnered 19.3 million views in September of 2013.
Now, share this post around and let's see if we can break that Vevo record.