Oh how far Auliʻi Cravalho has gone…
The 21-year-old part-Puerto Rican singer/actress, who rose to acclaim after voicing the lead character in Disney’s Moana, has earned a spot in YouTube’s coveted Billion Views Club.
Cravalho entered the club with the official video for “How Far I’ll Go,” her signature power ballad for the acclaimed animated film.
According to a statement from YouTube, an impressive number of people have been watching Cravalho’s beloved character embark on her big sea adventure in the past 12 months, with the video averaging more than 350,000 views a day.
With its new milestone, “How Far I’ll Go” now matches the billion views status of fellow Moana track “You’re Welcome,” performed by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s cocky but lovable demigod, Maui.
The world has loved the music of Moana since it came out six years ago: “How Far I’ll Go” — which is performed by Alessia Cara — peaked at No. 56, while “You’re Welcome” reached a high of No. 65 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2017.
The soundtrack — which features music written by Oscar-nominated Encanto composer Lin-Manuel Miranda — made history for weeks spent at No. 1 on Billboard’s soundtracks chart.
Disney is finding similar love for its latest animated project, Encanto, and the songs sung by its cast of magical characters. Also composed by Miranda, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” just topped the Hot 100 chart for the second week in a row, and is currently the music behind a couple of wildly popular TikTok trends.
The full soundtrack has sat atop the Billboard 200 for four weeks and counting.