A Japanese comedian’s nonsense tune that became an Internet sensation after Justin Bieber recommended it has entered the Guinness World Records as the shortest song to break into the Billboard Hot 100.
The video for the 45-second-long Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen has been viewed more than 67mn times since hitting YouTube in August, going viral after pop giant Bieber tweeted it as his “favourite video on the Internet”.
“I’m surprised by this sudden popularity,” said the 53-year-old comedian, who goes by Pikotaro, just before receiving the award yesterday at a packed press conference.
“Without Justin’s impact, I think only four people would have showed up in this room,” he joked.
“Yesterday my head was full of white hair, but now it has all turned black,” said Pikotaro, whose real name is Kazuhito Kosaka.
He said that the lyrics were inspired by items he found on the table when he began writing.
Last week, the song entered the US chart at No 77, marking the first time in 26 years that a Japanese singer made the Billboard Hot 100.
The video features Pikotaro, dressed in his trademark garish animal print costume, dancing to nonsensical English lyrics such as “I have a pen. I have an apple. Apple pen”.
But despite the global sensation, Pikotaro told reporters that his life had not changed at all since the song became “a worldwide phenomenon” last month.
Pikotaro, who revealed that he spent only ¥100,000 ($950) to make the video, hopes to do a world tour, although he doubts that the global craze will continue.
“I just want to quickly release many fun songs,” he said.
Pikotaro shows his Guinness World Records certificate during a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan in Tokyo.
