Brendon Urie and Taylor Swift in ME! | Taylor Swift Productions/UMG
The tabulation is complete, and YouTube is able to confirm the opening day view mark for Taylor Swift’s “ME! (featuring Brendon Urie).”
According to YouTube, the video amassed 65.2 million views in its first twenty-four hours of release. The impressive figure represents the #2 debut figure ever, trailing only the 74.6 million mark garnered by BTS’ “Boy With Luv (featuring Halsey).”
“ME!” moreover sets the all-time record for a video by a lead solo artist, as well as the new high mark for a video by a lead female act (solo or group). Ariana Grande’s “thank u, next” previously held the record for lead solo artists (55.4 million), while BLACKPINK’s “Kill This Love” held the record for lead female acts (56.7 million).
In a Tweet about the achievement, Swift thanked her fans for their role in the record-setting debut. She also drew attention to the fact that the individual integers in 65.2 million (6, 5 and 2) add up to her lucky number of 13.
“GUYS!! YOU DID THIS!!!! CANNOT STOP SMILING,” wrote Swift. “And I’m not trying to be loud but 65.2 million views… ?? and 6+5+2=…………. ”
The “ME!” video continues to amass interest in its second day; as of press time at 8:30PM ET Saturday, it boasts over 82 million views.