This article is about the popular children's song. For the juvenile life stage of a shark, seeShark § Life history.
"Baby Shark" (Korean: 상어가족) is achildren's song associated with a dance involving hand movements dating back to the late 20th century. In 2016, "Baby Shark" became immensely popular whenPinkfong, a South Korean entertainment company, released a version of the song on June 17, 2016, with aYouTube music video whichwent viral on social media, in online videos, and on the radio. In November 2020, Pinkfong's version became themost-viewed YouTube video of all time, after amassing 7.04 billion views.[1][2][3] In January 2022, it became the first YouTube video to reach 10 billion views.[4][5] As of March 6, 2025, it has 15.68 billion views on YouTube.
2018 photo of a four-year-old boy doing the "Baby Shark" dance
The original song dates back to the 20th century. Various entities have tried tocopyright original videos and sound recordings of the song, but according toThe New York Times, the underlying song and characters are believed to be in thepublic domain, as the song has been a popular camp singalong for decades.[6]
A dance version of "Baby Shark" was popularized in the 2007 YouTube video "Kleiner Hai" (German forLittle Shark) published by Alexandra Müller, also known by her stage nameAlemuel.[7] This version is set to thetheme ofJaws and tells the story of a baby shark who grows up and eats a swimmer.[8] The video quickly gained popularity.[9] The single peaked at 25th in the German charts[10] and at 21st in the Austrian charts.[11] The German version of the song remains popular among German youth groups, and multiple variations, also in different dialects of German,[12] have been published.
Jonathan Wright, a children's entertainer fromEndwell, New York, known as Johnny Only,[6] was aDJ at akids' summer camp in the 1990s where the counselors regularly performed the song with the campers. He saw how engaged and animated the campers were when "Baby Shark" was performed. When he became a full-time children's entertainer, he released a version of the song aimed at toddlers by removing any violent imagery, instead focusing on the family.[13] The version was released in 2011, five years before the Pinkfong version of "Baby Shark" became a global phenomenon.[14]
"Baby Shark" was greatly popularized by a version of the song produced by Pinkfong, an education brand owned by South Korean entertainment companySmartStudy. The original music video for "Baby Shark" (Korean: 아기 상어;RR: Agi sangeo) without child actors was uploaded on November 25, 2015.[15] All videos related to Pinkfong's song had gained about 5 billion views by January 2020. The most popular version of Pinkfong's videos, "Baby Shark Dance", was uploaded on June 17, 2016. This version was sung by then-10-year-old Korean-American singer Hope Segoine, and the music video featured two child actors, Park Geon Roung of South Korea and Elaine Kim Johnston of New Zealand.[16][17] On November 2, 2020, more than four years after it was first uploaded, this version amassed 7.04 billion views to become the most-viewed YouTube video of all time, surpassingLuis Fonsi's "Despacito".[1] It is the first most-viewed video to mention its status in the title.
The song starts with bars fromAntonín Dvořák'sSymphony No. 9, which sounds similar to music from the filmJaws. "Baby Shark" features a family of sharks that hunt a school of fish which escape to safety.[18] It became a viral video inIndonesia in 2017,[19] and throughout the year it spread to many other Asian countries, particularly those in Southeast Asia.[20] The related mobile app surpassed 150 million downloads and was top ranked in 112 countries in 2017.[21]
A speaker at the 10th Bikol Wikipedia anniversary in 2017 doing a "Baby Shark" dance
Baby Shark dancers at the 10th Bikol Wikipedia Anniversary ADNU
"Baby Shark Dance" has received over 15 billion views worldwide and over 44 million likes as of November 2024[update], making it themost-viewed video onYouTube.[3][1] Due to a 2013 change that theBillboard Hot 100 music charts made to account for online viewership of YouTube videos, "Baby Shark" broke into theBillboard Hot 100 at number 32 during the week of January 7, 2019.
Due to its popularity, this version of the song has spurred an online dance craze which is sometimes referred to as the Baby Shark Challenge. It has been cited as "the next big thing after the domination ofGangnam Style".[22]K-pop groups includingBlackpink andRed Velvet have been credited with further spreading the viral song through their coverage of the song and dance, specifically on their featured TV shows and concerts.[23] Other popular K-pop groups, both locally- and internationally known, have also sung and danced to the song in the original beat or in their own rendition that are shared on the internet, includingTwice,Monsta X,GOT7,Mamamoo, and several more.[24] The song began to go viral in theWestern world in August 2018.[25]
In July 2019,Kellogg's announced that it had entered a partnership with Pinkfong to introduce a new Baby Shark cereal, a berry-flavored variant ofFroot Loops withmarshmallows added. It was first available atSam's Club stores on August 17, and atWalmart in late September.[26] In March 2020, Pinkfong released a new interactive version of the song that encourages children to properly wash their hands during theCOVID-19 pandemic.[27]
In December 2020, SmartStudy partnered with US cable networkNickelodeon to premiereBaby Shark's Big Show!, which was adapted from Baby Shark and is an animated television series aimed at preschoolers.[28][29][30]
In 2024,LG launched theBaby Shark World for Kids app on LG Smart TVs in 184 countries.[31] As of 5 April 2024, the app is ranked at number 67 on the list of highest grossing education apps in South Korea.[32]
Wright's English version simply lists the members of the shark family; Pinkfong's version says Mommy Shark is "pretty", Daddy Shark is "strong", Grandma Shark is "kind", and Grandpa Shark is "cool". In January 2018, the South Korean newspaperKyunghyang Shinmun published a front-page editorial condemning these lyrics as sexist.[8][33]
In May 2018, theLiberty Korea Party started using "Baby Shark" to promote its candidates, prompting SmartStudy to threaten legal action over copyright infringement.[8][33] Prior to this, the Liberty Korea Party had contacted Wright for permission, who admits to having told the political group that the song was in the public domain.[14] He has stated that when he uploaded his YouTube video in 2011, he did not believe his version could be protected under copyright law.[34] Wright's version is not the oldest, nor the only non-violent rendition of the folk song.[35]
Eventually, Wright filed his own copyright infringement suit against SmartStudy in South Korea, with the first hearing taking place in July 2019.[36] On July 23, 2021, the Seoul Central District Court ruled that SmartStudy did not infringe on Wright's rights. The ruling cited theKorea Copyright Commission judgement that Wright's version simply added an instrument to an existing folk song. SmartStudy did not secure ownership either, with the court ruling that the Pinkfong version was based on oral tradition and not under copyright.[37] The case received a write-up in a South Korean law journal in November 2021.[38]
In November 2019, an officially licensed children's book based on the Pinkfong characters was being marketed byHarperCollins, while five unlicensed children's books offered byScholastic Corporation had sold over one million copies.[6]
In 2020, Pinkfong partnered withBushiroad to include "Baby Shark" as a playable track in the English server ofBanG Dream! Girls Band Party! from March 27 to April 17.[41]
In June 2020, Pinkfong announced the television seriesBaby Shark's Big Show!, which premiered onEducational Broadcasting System (EBS) in South Korea.[42] The show premiered onNickelodeon in the United States in December 2020.[43] On July 20, 2021, the series was renewed for a second season, and a feature film based on the series will be released on December 8.[44]
In the Americancomedy-drama television seriesTed Lasso, fictionalsoccer player Jamie Tartt (played by English actorPhil Dunster) uses the tune of the song as hisgoal celebration anthem, in which the words "Baby Shark" are replaced with his name.[45]
In April 2024,Pinkfong announced its limited-time collaboration with the game companySupercell to incorporate Baby Shark into the company's mobile gameBrawl Stars. On April 1, Baby Shark-themed in-game skin was introduced in the game.[46] The popular Brawler El Primo would also adopt the new Baby Shark skin. Additionally, the song would play nonstop while players were playing, and a Baby Shark pin would be awarded to those who succeeded in the new Baby Shark challenges.[46]
The fourth season ofThe Umbrella Academy released in August 2024 features long excerpts of the song in several episodes.[47]
Invited guests and White House staff members make the "Baby Shark" gesture as they welcome the 2019 World Series Champion Washington Nationals on Monday, November 4, 2019, to the White House.
Professional baseball playerGerardo Parra of theWashington Nationals, having discovered the song through his young daughter, adopted it as hiswalk-up music to energize the flagging team on June 19, 2019.[48] The theme became popular among both teammates and fans, who used the shark clap whenever the Nationals got a hit, and eventually, at every Parra at-bat; fans also began wearing shark costumes to the stadium.[49] A stuffed baby shark was seen attached to the dugout railing during the2019 National League Championship Series, which the Nationals won over theSt. Louis Cardinals.[50] During the2019 World Series between theWashington Nationals and theHouston Astros, the song was the subject of a singing bet between theChoral Arts Society of Washington and theHouston Chamber Choir, with the condition that the Houston Chamber Choir would sing Baby Shark if the Washington Nationals won the World Series and the Choral Arts Society would singDeep in the Heart of Texas vice versa.[51] After the Houston Astros lost the World Series in seven games, the Houston Chamber Choir honored its promise by singing Baby Shark in its rendition and posting the video on its YouTube official account.[52] The Choral Arts Society, though winning the bet, returned the honor by performing live on TV amashup rendition of Baby Shark and Deep in the Heart of Texas.[53] The craze of Baby Shark among Washington Nationals' fans culminated after the team's win; the connection was such that theMarine Band performed the song during the team's celebratory visit to theWhite House.[54]
On May 23, 2022, it was reported that a promotional video for Singapore's tourism sector in the form of a collaboration between Pinkfong and theSingapore Tourism Board was made and uploaded on YouTube. The video featured characters from Baby Shark and the Merli, a Singaporean mascot.[56]
Ads aired during April 2022 and May 2022 byShopee used the melody of Baby Shark with modified lyrics in its advertisements inPoland andSingapore.[57] Many Poles considered the advertisements annoying due to a high incidence of broadcasting across television and radio.[57][58] InSoutheast Asia, the song was used with different versions and renditions. It was first spotted in 2018 with Filipina actressAnne Curtis as an endorser. More recently, the jingle to the tune of "Baby Shark" was used whenJackie Chan became international brand ambassador.[59][60][61][62]
In July 2019, officials inWest Palm Beach,Florida were criticized for playing a continuous loop of "Baby Shark", alongside "Raining Tacos" throughout the night outside the Waterfront Lake Pavilion as a way ofdeterring vagrants.[65]
In October 2020, two former detention officers and a supervisor at anOklahoma Countyjail were charged with counts of misdemeanor cruelty to a prisoner and conspiracy for forcing inmates to listen to the song on a loop at loud volumes while standing and handcuffed for an extended period.[66]
There have been multiple singers sing their versions onThe Late Late Show with James Corden. In 2018,James Corden invitedSophie Turner andJosh Groban to the show to perform the song, with Corden singing the baby shark chorus, Turner singing mommy shark, and Groban singing daddy shark.[68][69] In 2019, in herCarpool Karaoke episode,Celine Dion sang the song briefly after being asked by Corden to do so dramatically.[70] Also on Carpool Karaoke, when asked if the members would sing rounds while they were bored,K-pop boybandBTS gave Baby Shark as an example and sang it on the spot, mixing the chorus withLMFAO'sShots.[71]
In February 2019,Bebe Rexha posted on herTwitter account (now X) a 40-second clip of her singing Baby Shark in an emotional manner.[74]
Pinkfong collaborated with popular Australian children's music bandThe Wiggles for a Baby Shark performance collaboration featuring Pinkfong, Baby Shark, and The Wiggles. The collaboration resulted in a four-episode series premiering exclusively on YouTube, starting on December 18, 2023.[75]
The Seoul-based high End audio label AudioGuy released a jazz version by theEuropean Jazz Trio named 'Baby Jazz Shark' in February 2020.[76]
^Kim, Mi-young (January 20, 2019).""Baby Shark" takes the world by storm".Hanoi Korea. RetrievedApril 5, 2024.But the decisive moment came in 2017, when Hollywood actress Amanda Cerny appeared on an Indonesian television broadcast to dance to the tune.
