YouTube turns 20: Incredible earnings from most iconic videos cemented in British culture

It’s hard to believe there was once life before YouTube. As the global video sharing platform celebrates its 20th birthday, the Mirror takes a look back at 20 of the most popular clips to cement their place in British culture

Today it’s the largest video sharing platform in the world with 2.53bn active monthly users – but before 2005 there was nothing quite like it on earth.

When YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim uploaded a 19-second video called Me at the Zoo on April 23 a new era of entertainment was born – fast forward to today and 3.7m videos are uploaded every single day.

As we approach the 20th anniversary of that very first video being transferred to YouTube, we take a look back at 20 of the most memorable and iconic YouTube videos that have become a huge part of British culture.

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‘Charlie bit me’

This 56-second-long video which was uploaded on YouTube in May 2007 features brothers Harry Davies-Carr (3) and Charlie Davies-Carr (1) from Marlow in Buckinghamshire. The cute clip shows Charlie nibbling on Harry’s finger and the pair laughing. The video was one of the first major viral videos on YouTube and has had more than 887m views – leading to Charlie Bit My Finger T-shirts, mugs and limited edition calendars pocketing the family around £1m.

Ed Sheeran’s rise to fame

YouTube played a significant part in Ed Sheeran’s rise to fame after he performed his second single You Need Me, I don’t Need You live for the SBTV YouTube channel. It’s one of his most well-known early music videos in which he made an entire song, backing track included, in just five minutes using a guitar and loop pedal.. This version included lyrics from Sheeran’s cousin—rapper Alonestar (Jethro Sheeran)—and reggae group LaidBlak and introduced him to a whole new audience. It’s been viewed more than 61m times and the singer from Halifax, West Yorkshire is now estimated to be worth around £300m.

Susan Boyle’s audition

Susan Boyle’s 2009 YouTube video featuring her audition on Britain’s Got Talent quickly went viral and the Scottish songstress became an international phenomenon within days. It’s one of the most viewed clips on the platform and has been watched over 29m times. Watching it you can see how the judges and audience were truly shocked when they heard her beautiful rendition of the Les Miserables song leading to millions of record sales. She used some of the money to purchase her childhood home in Blackburn, West Lothian despite reportedly being worth around £30m.

‘Something I want to say…’

It was December 2013 when British olympian swimmer Tom Daley took to YouTube to announce he was happily dating a man, putting an end to rumours about his sexuality. He’s now married to Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black who he has two children with: Robbie Ray (7) and Phoenix Rose (2). It was a significant moment for both the channel and the swimmer. The five times Olympic medal winner who is now thought to be worth £3.1m came out at a time when LGBTQ+ athletes were few and far between and the video has been watched more than 13m times.

Zoe makes a name for herself

English media personality, entrepreneur and author Zoella (Zoe Suggs) began her career as a YouTuber in 2009 by showing off her fashion and beauty hauls and landing 11 million views. Born in Lacock, Wiltshire she’s made £410,000 from YouTube and her vlogging success led her to launch a range of beauty products under the brand name Zoella Beauty. She’s so well known that she’s even been immortalised as a wax figure at Madame Tussauds and is now worth a reported £4.7m and has since accumulated over 10m subscribers.

Stormzy’s Shut Up

English rapper Stormzy released his song Shut Up independently for digital download on YouTube in the UK in May 2015. Initially released as a freestyle, it gained millions of views and was a key factor in the Croydon-born rapper’s rise to fame. The video, filmed in a South London car park, helped catapult him into the mainstream and has been viewed more than 137m times. Now one of the most successful British rappers with four Brit awards, Stormzy is said to be worth £26m.

The Pengest Munch

Elijah Quashie from Enfield, London started his YouTube channel The Pengest Munch in August 2015, but up until December 2016, his videos critiquing chicken shops around London only gained around 700 views each. But that all changed when this one went viral on 9 December – it’s been watched 8.3m times. It led to other opportunities and his book The Pengest Munch: In Search of the Nation’s 50 Favourite Chicken Establishments was released in October 2017. He later went on to star in The Peng Life on Channel 4 and his YouTube channel, social media presence and business ventures have made him a significant income stream.

Snap election shock

Who can forget Brenda from Bristol speaking on behalf of Britain when she exclaimed ‘you’re joking, not another one’ after she was told about the upcoming snap General Election announced by Theresa May in 2017? It was watched by more than 1.8m people and led to countless memes and mashups. Her response was also captured by BBC reporter Jon Kay who went back to visit the 75-year-old pensioner who couldn’t believe the attention her comments had attracted. Sadly, she died a couple of years ago.

Big Shaq

This comedy hip hop novelty song by British comedian Michael Dapaah, in character as the fictional UK drill rapper Big Shaq, went viral gaining 438m views on YouTube and subsequently peaking at number three in the singles chart. Born in South London in 1991, Michael was also the star and creator of YouTube mockumentary series SWIL (Somewhere in London) which follows four characters including Big Shaq on their journeys to success. The two seasons have amassed over 12 million views and Michael is said to primarily make his money from his YouTube channel with his net worth estimated to be £755,000.

Garlic bread launches into space

This video of Barry from My Virgin Kitchen launching garlic bread into space with the help of Random Aerospace to see if it tastes any different when it comes back down amassed 62m views on YouTube. Not only that, but viewers found creator Tom Scott’s idea so entertaining that more than 97,000 people have commented on it! And in case you’re wondering, garlic bread does not taste better when it’s been to space and comes back down to earth – cold! Tom from Mansfield in Notts has 6m subscribers and is worth around £2m.

‘Fenton!’

It caused such a stir that you’d think it was a video of Jesus Christ in Richmond Park, London but it’s actually a clip of a man chasing a dog, chasing deer. When the video was first uploaded on November 13, 2011, there was debate over the dog’s name – was it Renton, Benton or Fenton? It was indeed Fenton, a black labrador, and his escapades have been watched 27m times not to mention the myriad of memes, mashups and merchandise.

Charity single success

On 14 December 2018, Mark and Roxanne Hoyle released their charity single, a parody cover of Starship’s 1985 single “We Built This City” where the pair sang the amended lyrics of “We Built This City on Sausage Rolls”. Proceeds from the charity single went to The Trussell Trust and were reported to be £305,000 and it has been viewed 6.7m times on YouTube. Thanks to its airing on YouTube, the song even debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart ahead of Ariana Grande. YouTuber and music Mark Ian Hoyle and his wife Roxanne live in Nottingham and are thought to be worth more than £1.2m.

Showstopping moment

The popularity of Dave (feat. Alex) – Thiago Silva stemmed from a viral moment at Glastonbury Festival 2019 where Dave invited a fan, Alex, to rap AJ Tracey’s verse on stage. Alex seemed to know the lyrics perfectly and the spontaneous yet showstopping interaction became a viral sensation gaining more than 44m viewers. Alex from Glasto certainly enjoyed his five minutes of fame and was later invited to Wireless festival where he had to walk around with a bodyguard. Alex made a bit of money after going viral, saying: “It was good enough. I set myself up to the point where I didn’t have to work throughout college. It was comfortable enough,” he said.

Joe Wicks as The Body Coach

Part of Joe Wicks’ PE with Joe initiative, this video was a huge hit in March 2020 as it got kids and families moving during the Covid lockdown. On the first day alone 900,000 families tuned in which broke the record for the largest streamed workout on YouTube, And it didn’t end there – millions switched on every day after that and it has had more than 5.5m views. Although the fitness coach already had a large following, his pandemic workout videos boosted his fame and helped him reach his net worth which is estimated to be around £55m.

‘You have no authority’

A video of a parish council meeting in Handworth, Cheshire descending into chaos became an internet sensation during lockdown. Attendees insulted the moderator Jackie Weaver which resulted in her ejecting some of them from the Zoom call in hilarious scenes viewed more than 5.3m times. Not only that, Jackie was also the hottest topic on Twitter for a while, opening the Brit Awards in 2021 and Andrew Lloyd Webber even wrote a song about her called “An Ode to Jackie Weaver”. Thanks to the video footage going viral she says she can now earn up to £5,000 for half a day’s work.

Gran’s takeaways reviewed

Marion Love, a grandma who sells takeaway meals from her home in Farnworth, Bolton received messages from across the world after a video posted by Rate My Takeaway went viral on YouTube accumulating more than 3.9m views. The Rate My Takeaway series is hosted by Danny Malin who drives around ordering takeaways. During lockdown he would set up his own table and chairs to eat the meals outside food outlets and his channel now has more than 730,000 subscribers.

Mayor Election prank

What happens when a YouTuber runs for London Mayor? When Niko Omilana, a 23-year-old YouTube prankster went up against Sadiq Khan, social media went wild. He is known for posting prank videos on YouTube and ran as an independent candidate in the 2021 London mayoral election and the 2024 UK general election but was unsuccessful both times. Despite his political failings it hasn’t done his reputation any harm – the influencer from Staffordshire now has 7.79m YouTube subscribers, the video got 18 million views and he’s worth a staggering £1m.

Storm Eunice struggle

With more than 7.7m views, this live YouTube stream of planes trying to land at Heathrow during Storm Eunice in February 2022 became an unexpected online hit. Aviation enthusiast Jerry Dyer has been streaming aircraft’s attempts to land at the London airport in winds of up to 70mph on his Big Jet TV channel. His lively commentary and footage has been attracting more than 200,000 live viewers at times. Storm Eunice made Jerry a household name and the plane enthusiast now gets to devote his life full-time to Big Jet TV.

Arsenal Fan TV

Arsenal Fan TV (AFTV) is the largest football fan network in the world run by Robbie Lyle and his cameraman Tao, with 1.72m subscribers on YouTube. Created in 2012, it’s a platform for Arsenal fans to share their opinions and discuss the club’s performance, featuring fan interviews, previews and reviews of players. It also features interviews with players such as Ian Wright and Thierry Henry and makes around £1.8m a year.