Psy broke a YouTube record today, being the first person ever to hit 1 billion views on YouTube.

“Gangnam Style,” the breakout, viral hit from the Korean pop star, has been a huge hit this year thanks to the addictive tune and endless clones.

Psy’s 1 billion views-success came thanks to a smart move by the star: He never pulled any copies of his song from the Internet for copyright infringement. He let them all stay on YouTube and other social networking sites, which allowed the song to spread. Naturally people were curious to see the original version after watching the copycats, hence the 1 billion views.

Rounding out the top six most-viewed videos are…

2) Justin Bieber’s “Baby” (813 million views)
3) Jennifer Lopez’s “On the Floor” (632 million views)
4) Eminem’s “Love The Way You Lie” (524 million views)
5) LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem” (508 million views)
6) Shakira’s “Waka Waka” (503 million views)

Psy has the clear lead, and until there’s another worldwide-hit from a different artist, we can’t imagine the 1 billion landmark being crossed by another singer anytime soon. Who knows what 2013 will bring!

Help Psy’s video continue to grow by enjoying “Gangnam Style” again. And again. And again:

We’re eager to see what his follow-up single will be, but like most one-hit wonders we bet it’ll sound very similar to “Gangnam Style” and just not live up to the original hype.