Guns N’ Roses’ “November Rain” video surpasses 2 billion views on YouTube

Guns N’ Roses’ “November Rain” has become the first full-on rock music video to hit 2 billion views on YouTube. The band took Twitter to mark the milestone, and wrote: “TWO BILLION. Thank you, Gunners. #NovemberRain.”

The clip was directed by Andy Morahan and inspired by Del James’s short story “Without You”.It’s one of the most expensive videos ever made and it follows the trajectory of a rock star’s relationship and coming to terms with the death of his wife. The wife was portrayed by Stephanie Seymour, who was Rose’s girlfriend in real life.

The video, which was first released 31 years ago, was uploaded to the YouTube video service on Dec. 25, 2009 and has since gone on to pass the 2 billion views milestone.

“November Rain” originally appeared on Guns N’ Roses’ third studio album “Use Your Illusion I” in 1991 and it was released as a single the following year. It peaked at Number 4 in the UK and sold more than 600,000 copies, achieving Platinum status.