Arts & Entertainment.

Eiichiro Oda's One Piece, serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump since 1997, passed 600 million copies in circulation worldwide across more than 110 volumes. It is the best-selling manga ever and holds the Guinness World Record for the most copies published for the same comic book series by a single author.

Nintendo's Mario franchise has sold more than 907 million units since its first release in 1983, the most of any video game franchise. The core Super Mario platformers make up about 430 million of that, with the rest from Mario Kart, Mario Party and other spin-offs.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe, launched with Iron Man in 2008, has grossed more than $31 billion worldwide across more than 35 theatrical films, making it the highest-grossing film franchise in history. Its next-largest rivals, Star Wars and the Wizarding World, trail by well over $10 billion.

Canadian rapper Drake has placed 404 songs on the Billboard Hot 100, more than any other act. They include 241 top-40 hits, 90 top-10 hits and 14 number ones. He passed the Glee cast's total of 207 entries in 2021.

'Blinding Lights' by The Weeknd, released in November 2019, had about 5.6 billion Spotify streams as of early October 2026, the most of any song. It was the first track to pass 4 billion (January 2024) and 5 billion streams, and leads Ed Sheeran's 'Shape of You'.

Ella Langley's 'Choosin' Texas' logged its 23rd week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 2026, passing the 22 holiday-season weeks of Mariah Carey's 'All I Want for Christmas Is You', and extended the record to 24 weeks shortly afterward. Before 2026 the longest continuous runs were 19 weeks, by 'Old Town Road' (2019) and 'A Bar Song (Tipsy)' (2024).

MrBeast, the channel of American creator Jimmy Donaldson, became the first YouTube channel to reach 500 million subscribers on June 12, 2026, during a live stream. He had overtaken Indian music label T-Series as the most-subscribed channel in November 2024.

David Gilmour's 1969 Fender Stratocaster, 'The Black Strat', used on Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall, sold for $14.55 million at Christie's New York in March 2026 as part of the Jim Irsay Collection sale. It beat the $6 million paid in 2020 for Kurt Cobain's MTV Unplugged Martin D-18E.

'Baby Shark Dance', uploaded by South Korean children's brand Pinkfong on June 17, 2016, became YouTube's most-viewed video in November 2020 when it passed Luis Fonsi's 'Despacito', and had more than 16.7 billion views by March 2026. It was the first video to pass 10 billion views, in January 2022.

With the final piece of its central Tower of Jesus Christ installed on February 20, 2026, Antoni Gaudí's Basílica de la Sagrada Família in Barcelona reached 172.5 m, becoming the tallest church in the world. It overtook Germany's Ulm Minster (161.53 m), which had held the title since 1890; the tower was blessed by Pope Leo XIV in June 2026, the centenary of Gaudí's death.

Ryan Coogler's Sinners received 16 nominations for the 98th Academy Awards, announced on January 22, 2026, breaking the record of 14 shared by All About Eve (1950), Titanic (1997) and La La Land (2016). Its nominations included Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Michael B. Jordan.

A hand stencil in Liang Metanduno cave on Muna Island, off Sulawesi in Indonesia, has a minimum age of 67,800 years, according to laser-ablation uranium-series dating of overlying mineral crusts published in Nature in January 2026. It beats a Spanish hand stencil dated to about 66,700 years and the previous Sulawesi record of 51,200 years.

The Chinese animated feature Ne Zha 2, directed by Jiaozi and released on January 29, 2025, grossed roughly $2.2 billion worldwide, overtaking Inside Out 2 to become the highest-grossing animated film ever. More than $2 billion of that came from mainland China alone, and it was the first non-English-language film to pass both $1 billion and $2 billion globally.

Frida Kahlo's 1940 self-portrait El sueño (La cama) sold for $54.7 million at Sotheby's New York on November 20, 2025, the most ever paid at auction for a work by a woman artist. It surpassed Georgia O'Keeffe's Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1, sold for $44.4 million in 2014.

Sony Pictures Animation's KPop Demon Hunters, released on Netflix on June 20, 2025, ended its 91-day window with 325.1 million views, the most of any film or series in Netflix history. It surpassed the 265.2 million views of Squid Game season 1.

Minecraft, first released by Swedish studio Mojang in 2009 and owned by Microsoft since 2014, passed 350 million copies sold by April 2025, the best-selling video game of all time according to Guinness World Records. Tetris has higher combined sales only if its many separate releases are counted together.

Kendrick Lamar's halftime show at Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans on February 9, 2025 drew more than 133.5 million viewers, the most for any Super Bowl halftime show. Bad Bunny's Super Bowl LX show in 2026 drew 128.2 million across all platforms, the fourth-highest.

Super Bowl LIX, in which the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Kansas City Chiefs on February 9, 2025, averaged 127.7 million U.S. viewers across Fox, Tubi and other platforms, the largest audience in U.S. television history. Super Bowl LX in February 2026 averaged slightly fewer but set the all-time peak-audience mark of 137.8 million.

Beyoncé has won 35 Grammy Awards, the most of any artist, after winning four at the 67th Grammy Awards on February 2, 2025, including her first Album of the Year for Cowboy Carter. She first broke the all-time record (previously held by conductor Georg Solti with 31) in 2023.

Taylor Swift's Eras Tour grossed about $2.08 billion across 149 shows in 51 cities from March 17, 2023 in Glendale, Arizona to December 8, 2024 in Vancouver — the first tour to pass both $1 billion and $2 billion. Coldplay's Music of the Spheres World Tour ranks second at about $1.5 billion.

FX's Shōgun won 18 Primetime Emmy Awards for its first season in September 2024, including Outstanding Drama Series and acting awards for Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai — the most ever won by a single season of any television show, beating the 13 won by John Adams in 2008.

Sony's PlayStation 2, launched in Japan in March 2000 and discontinued in 2013, sold more than 160 million units according to Sony, the best-selling video game console ever. Nintendo's Switch family had shipped 156.59 million by June 30, 2026 and is approaching the record.

Taylor Swift has won Album of the Year four times — for Fearless (2010), 1989 (2016), Folklore (2021) and Midnights (2024) — more than any other artist. Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon each won three.

The Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., founded in 1800, holds about 178 million items, including more than 25 million cataloged books, and is generally recognized as the largest library in the world. Its collections span more than 470 languages.

J.K. Rowling's seven-book Harry Potter series, published by Bloomsbury from 1997 to 2007, has sold more than 600 million copies in over 85 languages, according to its publisher in 2023 — the best-selling book series in history.

The Codex Sassoon, a nearly complete Hebrew Bible handwritten in the late 9th or early 10th century, sold for $38.1 million at Sotheby's New York on May 17, 2023, the highest price ever paid for a manuscript at auction. It surpassed Leonardo da Vinci's Codex Leicester, bought by Bill Gates for $30.8 million in 1994.

Ireland and Sweden have each won the Eurovision Song Contest seven times, more than any other country. Ireland's seventh came in 1996 after an unmatched three wins in a row from 1992 to 1994; Sweden drew level with Loreen's 'Tattoo' in 2023. Bulgaria won the 2026 contest in Vienna.

Disney's The Lion King, which opened on Broadway on November 13, 1997, had grossed $1,820,763,207 by the week ending March 5, 2023, making it the highest-grossing Broadway show of all time; it passed The Phantom of the Opera in 2012 and has kept adding to the total since.

The IMAX screen at the Traumpalast cinema in Leonberg, Germany, measures 38.80 m by 21.00 m, an area of 814.8 m², certified as the largest permanent cinema screen on December 6, 2022. It is wider than a Boeing 737 airliner.

Man Ray's Le Violon d'Ingres (1924), an original print showing model Kiki de Montparnasse's back painted with violin f-holes, sold for $12.4 million at Christie's New York on May 14, 2022, the highest price ever paid for a photograph at auction.

Everydays: The First 5000 Days, a digital collage by American artist Mike Winkelmann (Beeple), sold as an NFT for $69.3 million in an online sale at Christie's that closed on March 11, 2021 — the first purely digital work offered by a major auction house and the most expensive NFT artwork sold at auction.

British artist Sacha Jafri's The Journey of Humanity, painted in the ballroom of the Atlantis, The Palm hotel in Dubai during 2020, covers 1,595.76 m² and was certified by Guinness World Records as the largest art canvas. Sold in 70 sections, it raised about $62 million for children's charities in March 2021.

HBO's Game of Thrones won 59 Primetime Emmy Awards across its eight seasons from 2011 to 2019, including four for Outstanding Drama Series — the most ever won by a drama series. Only the sketch-comedy show Saturday Night Live has won more Emmys overall.

Jeff Koons's stainless-steel sculpture Rabbit (1986) sold for $91.1 million at Christie's New York on May 15, 2019, the highest price paid at auction for a work by a living artist. It narrowly topped David Hockney's Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), sold for $90.3 million in 2018.

Marvel Studios' Avengers: Endgame opened worldwide on the weekend of April 26-28, 2019 with about $1.2 billion in ticket sales, the first and so far only film to open above $1 billion globally. It also set the U.S. domestic opening record of $357.1 million and went on to reach $1 billion worldwide in just five days.

James Ivory won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Call Me by Your Name at the 90th Academy Awards on March 4, 2018, at age 89. That made him the oldest winner of a competitive Oscar in any category.

Meryl Streep has received 21 Academy Award acting nominations, from The Deer Hunter (1978) to The Post (2017), winning three times. No other performer has more than 12.

Lin-Manuel Miranda's hip-hop musical Hamilton received 16 Tony Award nominations on May 3, 2016, the most for any show in the awards' history, and went on to win 11 including Best Musical.

Alberto Giacometti's bronze L'Homme au doigt (Pointing Man, 1947) sold for $141.3 million at Christie's New York on May 11, 2015, the highest price ever paid for a sculpture at auction. The record still stood after Constantin Brâncuși's Danaïde sold for $107.6 million in May 2026.

Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto V, released on September 17, 2013, reached $1 billion in retail sales in three days, a Guinness World Record for the fastest entertainment property to gross $1 billion. Avengers: Endgame needed five days.

Logistics, an experimental Swedish film by Erika Magnusson and Daniel Andersson released in 2012, runs 857 hours (about 35 days and 17 hours). It follows, in reverse chronological order, the full journey of a pedometer from a shop in Stockholm back to the factory in China where it was made.

Flutes made from bird bone and mammoth ivory found in Geissenklösterle cave in the Swabian Jura of southwestern Germany were radiocarbon dated in 2012 to about 42,000-43,000 years old, the oldest securely identified musical instruments. They were made by early modern humans of the Aurignacian culture.

The 1721 'Lady Blunt' Stradivarius violin sold for £9.8 million (about $15.9 million) in an online charity auction by Tarisio on June 20, 2011, with the proceeds going to relief efforts after the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami. It is still the highest auction price for any musical instrument.

Ramoji Film City, outside Hyderabad in India, opened in 1996 and spreads over about 2,000 acres. Guinness World Records recognized it as the world's largest film studio complex in 2005. It has hosted productions in many Indian languages, including the Baahubali films.

A performance of John Cage's Organ²/ASLSP ('As Slow As Possible') began on September 5, 2001 at St. Burchardi church in Halberstadt, Germany, and is scheduled to last 639 years, ending in 2640. Notes change only every few months or years, with chord changes drawing visitors from around the world.

Mel Brooks's musical The Producers won 12 Tony Awards on June 3, 2001, including Best Musical, the most ever won by a single show. Hamilton came closest with 11 wins in 2016.

Kinepolis Madrid Ciudad de la Imagen opened on September 17, 1998 with 25 screens and 9,200 seats, making it the world's largest cinema megaplex. The Belgian chain had already opened the first megaplex, Kinepolis Brussels, with 25 screens and 7,600 seats.

Rod Stewart's New Year's Eve concert on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro on December 31, 1994 drew an estimated 3.5 million people, recognized by Guinness World Records as the largest attendance at a free rock concert. Crowd figures for open-beach events are estimates rather than ticketed counts.

In the early hours of March 18, 1990, two men posing as police officers stole 13 works, including Vermeer's The Concert and Rembrandt's only seascape, from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, with a combined value estimated at $500 million. The case remains unsolved and the museum offers a $10 million reward.

Les Misérables, the Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil musical produced by Cameron Mackintosh, opened in London in October 1985 and has run continuously ever since, which makes it the longest-running musical in West End history. Worldwide, only the original off-Broadway run of The Fantasticks ran longer.