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Published November 14th 2021

The 20 Most Liked Pictures on Instagram

Which Instagram posts do best? Which influencers have nailed the formula to generating likes? Find out in our list of the most liked Instagram posts

Of all the things to break a record for, the most liked picture on Instagram (given that there are now a billion monthly users, and 3.5 billion likes per day) is probably one of the biggest challenges.

You need a following (check out who has the most Instagram followers here). You could (debatably) do with some photography skills. You want to (again, debatably) have something worth taking a picture of.

As we’ll see in the list of top pictures, not all of the above are totally necessary, but they’ll help. So, here goes.

The 20 most liked pictures on Instagram

* If you’re not a fan of football or Billie Eilish you may find this list distressing.

20. Billie Eilish with blonde hair

Taken just a few days after her post revealing her new hair style, this post was carried into the list on the popular waves of the original revelation.

19. Ariana Grande gets married to Dalton Gomez

Here is Ariana Grande's first post on the list, and by no means the last. This one is from her recent wedding to Dalton Gomez.

18. Tom Holland says 'happy birthday' to Zendaya

Tom Holland returns to this list with a post dedicated to girlfriend Zendaya. He previously had a spot with a post featuring himself and Robert Downey Jr.

17. Khaby Lame keeps it simple

This fun viral video from TikTok sensation Khaby Lame has proven that TikTokkers can make it big over on Instagram, too.

16. Cristiano Ronaldo comes back to Manchester United

One of the most famous football players in the world grabs another spot in the list, this time celebrating his return to Manchester United.

15. Billie serves old-school glam at the Met Gala

September's Met Gala was a throwback to old school Hollywood glamour, with Billie Eilish giving us real Marilyn vibes.

Her Instagram post showing her look and thanking the designer Oscar de la Renta has shot into the top 20, with almost 20 million likes and counting.

14. Sad news from the Boseman family

Actor Chadwick Boseman was beloved around the world. His passing back in August 2020 was announced on Instagram by his family, and is the 12th most liked post of all time.

13. Ronaldo plays for Manchester United

Christiano Ronaldo's move to Manchester United this season has got millions of thumbs clicking on that 'like' button. Number 13 is his second appearance for the team.

12. Ronaldo says goodbye to Diego

As proof of Maradona's huge presence in the history of the game, we've seen a number of dedications to the legendary footballer make the list over time. This one is from Cristiano Ronaldo.

11. A real-life mermaid just swims past the top 10

Number 11 in the most liked posts hall of fame is @ironshoremermaid, aka 'Mermaid Montana' – a professional mermaid, zoologist, and entrepreneur.

Her posts of swimming up behind amazed children often go viral, and this one in particular really made the world click 'like'.

10. Lionel Messi takes leave of Barcelona

Messi's next spot in the list references his departure from Barcelona football club.

9. Lionel Messi takes the trophy

Another sports entry, next we have legend Lionel Messi celebrating after his national team Argentina won the Copa América trophy.

8. Billie Eilish and her British Vogue photoshoot

Out of all of the British Vogue photos Eilish posted to her Instagram back in May, this one is by far the most popular. If things continue, it could climb higher up this list.

7. Lionel Messi takes up a new team

Again (!) it's Messi. This post came hot on the heels of his one about leaving Barcelona, with the player announcing his signing to PSG.

6. Billie Eilish reveals her blonde hair (for the first time)

This post has become incredibly popular in such a short time and is Eilish's last post on this list. That means she has the most entries out of anybody, and with quite a margin too.

5. Kylie announces a sibling for Stormi

Kylie Jenner, once holder of the record of the most liked photo on Instagram, is back in the top five with her announcement that she's pregnant with baby number two. The cute video quickly went viral as fans fell over themselves to share the news.

4. Ariana Grande gets married to Dalton Gomez part two

Wow, this post skyrocketed to fourth place in an incredibly short time. Another Grande post, featuring a ton of photos from her wedding.

3. XXXTentacion’s last Instagram post

This was the last post from rapper XXXTentacion before his death in June 2018.

It’s actually the only picture on his Instagram feed.

Eerily, a music video was released posthumously in which the rapper attends his own funeral.

2.Ronaldo and his partner announce twins

A new entry in winter 2021 and it's more baby news - this time from Ronaldo and his partner Georgina Gio.

The snap of them proudly showing the world their scan images has been liked more than 30 million times since the end of October!

1. An egg.

This picture of an egg cracked Kylie Jenner’s Instagram record by a long shot, with over 55 million likes at the time of writing.

The world_record_egg account began a campaign to set the world record for the most liked post on Instagram, and it was an invitation people just couldn’t turn down.

The account was successful, and didn’t need to build much of an audience to do it, either.

The cheeky egg even got a response from Kylie herself.

View this post on Instagram

Take that little egg

A post shared by Kylie 🤍 (@kyliejenner) on

There was a lot of speculation about who was behind the egg, and as time went on the egg began to crack.

Literally, it posted pictures of itself cracking.

The big reveal came during the Super Bowl when it was revealed Hulu had partnered with the egg to raise awareness around mental health.

Pretty eggcellent, if you ask us.

With thanks to Wikipedia for providing the posts in this list.

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