Beyoncé and JAY-Z Help Louvre Museum Break Visitor Record

The Louvre, the world’s most visited museum, broke its attendance record, thanks in part to Beyoncé and JAY-Z.

The Carters shot their music video for “APES**T” at the famed Paris museum, which was visited by 10.2 million people in 2018. The number marked a 25 percent increase in visitors, beating the previous record of 9.7 million visitors in 2012. According to The Guardian, it’s the highest number for a museum of its kind, ahead of the National Museum of China and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

10,2 millions de visiteurs au #Louvre en 2018 ! Un grand merci à vous tous 🙏
👉https://t.co/ilWroHZkzG#PresseLouvre pic.twitter.com/JMOh2El1YD

— Musée du Louvre (@MuseeLouvre) January 3, 2019

The largest number of foreign visitors were from the U.S., followed by China. The Louvre also managed to attract a record number of young visitors, with more than 50 percent under 30 years old. The rise in youth is attributed to the “APES**T” video, which was viewed nearly 150 million times on YouTube.

The visual, off Beyoncé and JAY-Z’s joint album Everything Is Love, featured some of the museum’s most famous works of art including the Mona Lisa, The Consecration of the Emperor Napoleon and the Coronation of Empress Josephine, Madame Récamier, and Venus de Milo.

“It’s clear that 2018 was a remarkable year for the international reputation of the Louvre,” the museum’s director, Jean-Luc Martinez, told French radio. “The Beyoncé video, like the opening of the Louvre museum in Abu Dhabi, ensured that the Louvre was talked about across the world, and one of the consequences of that is the spectacular rise in visitor numbers last year.”