Can you be lonely with a billion pairs of eyes on you? We’ll have to ask Akon, who just scored his third addition to YouTube’s Billion Views Club with his 2005 video for “Lonely.”
The visual for “Lonely” opens with Akon basking in the cheers of adoring fans, only for the camera to pan around and reveal he’s in an empty theater. As the high-pitched sample of Bobby Vinton’s 1964 song “Mr. Lonely” that opens the track plays, the singer rejects going out with his friends in favor of staying behind for some good old fashioned brooding.
We then find out the reason for the star’s mood — a break-up with his girlfriend, played by The Vampire Diaries actress Kat Graham. Clips of her crying and packing her bags are interspersed with Akon looking at all the happy couples, young and old, he passes by.
“Lonely” is the singer’s third video to join YouTube’s Billion Views Club, following the visuals for “Smack That (feat. Eminem)” and “Play Hard” by David Guetta, which features both Akon and Ne-Yo. Both currently sit at 1.1 billion views.
The track was released as the third single off Akon’s debut studio album, Trouble, following “Locked Up” and “Ghetto.” It peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent 20 weeks on the chart.
Earlier this year, the singer shared the soundtrack of his life with NME, and cited “Lonely” as the song that makes him cry. “I was extremely lonely when I wrote it – true story,” he shared. “At the time, the only person who had my back was no longer there for me because of mishaps and decisions of my own. But for me, writing a song like this is a form of therapy. Once I get it out, I feel so much better. I feel even better again when I see other people can relate to it too.”
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