For weeks BLINKs had been watching the numbers climb, refreshing BLACKPINK’s YouTube page as if it were a live scoreboard. Late in February, the counter finally edged toward a landmark that only a few of the platform’s giants have ever reached. In the middle of a quiet evening in Seoul, the group and their global fandom saw history lining up on the screen.
On February 20, 2026, BLACKPINK’s official channel passed the blackpink 100 million youtube subscribers mark at around 7:31 p.m. KST, according to YG Entertainment, making them the first artist in the world, and the first YouTube Official Artist Channel, to do so. In response, YouTube created a custom Red Diamond Creator Award, also known as the Red Diamond Play Button. Reaching this level less than a decade after debut adds fresh weight to their next chapter.
BLACKPINK’s 100 million YouTube subscribers milestone
BLACKPINK’s YouTube journey started when their channel launched on June 28, 2016, just before their August debut with the single album Square One. The 100 million mark arrived roughly nine years and eight months later, a period that saw their subscriber count accelerate again once promotions began for their third mini album Deadline. Since an album announcement video on January 15, the channel has been adding around 10,000 new subscribers every day.
Crossing 100 million subscribers unlocked YouTube’s rarest prize, the Red Diamond Creator Award, which only a handful of huge channels such as PewDiePie, MrBeast, T-Series and WWE have previously received. BLACKPINK’s channel has already accumulated more than 41 billion total views and served as the hub for their first livestream concert THE SHOW and viral challenges like the #PinkVenomChallenge. The milestone also comes just after their DEADLINE World Tour, which packed 33 shows into 16 cities and kept BLINKs hungry for the promised February 27 comeback.
The numbers behind BLACKPINK’s record breaking YouTube channel
On sheer volume, the channel sits in a different league. YG reports a cumulative 41.1 billion views, with 50 videos surpassing 100 million views each and nine entries in YouTube’s 1 Billion Views Club, including the “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” and “Kill This Love” music videos plus solo hits like Lisa Manobal’s “MONEY” performance video and Jennie Kim’s “SOLO.” Over the last 12 months alone, YouTube tallies 3.3 billion views for BLACKPINK, led by audiences in Korea, India, Indonesia, Mexico, the United States and Brazil.
Subscriber rankings tell the same story, with BLACKPINK overtaking Ariana Grande, Eminem, Ed Sheeran, Marshmello and Justin Bieber to become YouTube’s most subscribed artist channel in September 2021, a lead they still hold. Global head of music at Google and YouTube Lyor Cohen summed it up, according to Korea JoongAng Daily: “Blackpink’s achievement of reaching 100 million subscribers on YouTube is truly historic,” he said. “It is the first record of its kind among artists worldwide, proving how deep the bond is between Blackpink and their fans, and how unparalleled its influence is on the global stage […] I sincerely congratulate Blackpink on this monumental moment, as they set a new standard for what it means to be a true global superstar.”
Why BLACKPINK’s 100 million YouTube record matters for K Pop
Those milestones cement BLACKPINK as a face of the Korean Wave. Their album BORN PINK topped both the Billboard 200 and the UK Official Albums Chart, and they went from being the first K Pop girl group to perform at Coachella to headlining the festival in 2023. The next step is third mini album Deadline, out February 27; YG stated, according to AntiMusic, “True to its title, [DEADLINE] will be filled with ‘irreversible peak moments’ and showcase ‘the most radiant and defining present of BLACKPINK.'” BLINKs expand the fandom that carried them to 100 million YouTube subscribers.