How Did LeBron James ‘You Are My Sunshine’ Become a Meme? All About TikTok Trend (2024)

LeBron James went viral on TikTok for reasons even he might not be sure about. Here's what you need to know about the LeBron James ‘You Are My Sunshine’ meme.

By Natasha Bose

Updated on Jun 23, 2024 | 11:59 AM IST| 81.3K

If you're into basketball TikTok, or Instagram, or Reddit,you've probably come across the LeBron James 'You are my sunshine' meme.No matter who you think the greatest player of all time is—LeBron James, Michael Jordan, or Kobe Bryant—you've likely seen it, especially after the Lakers' game on March 31, 2024.

LeBron's NBA journey began 16 years before TikTok became a global sensation. He's now a star on the platform, though maybe not in the way he envisioned. What does theLeBron James 'You Are My Sunshine'memeand trend mean, who started it, and how did it begin? Here’s the scoop on the viral meme on TikTok.

LeBron James 'You Are My Sunshine' meme explained

After LeBron scored 40 points in Brooklyn, some TikTok videos show the crowd singing You Are My Sunshine to the superstar. A meme that started in January 2023 has come to life over a year later.

The trend began in early 2023, mocking James' most passionate fans. These super-fans existed long before TikTok, and James has always had devoted supporters and critics who mock his ardent defenders.


In January 2024, the trend took off. On January 20, 2024, TikToker @lebrigga posted a video edit with Christina Perri's You Are My Sunshine playing over LeBron's basketball footage, captioned, "I love you bron bron," followed by three red heart emojis, which got over 794,000 views in two months. This video is among the most viral of the "LeBron sunshine" memes.

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By overly adoring James to an exaggerated degree, users posting these videos are poking fun at the extreme passion of his biggest fans.

According to Know Your Meme, "Back in January 2023, TikTokers began an ironic meme trend known as 'LeBron glazing' that mocks dedicated fans and defenders of NBA legend LeBron James for their seeming inability to criticize LeBron. The meme often sees users attach overly supportive captions over images or footage of LeBron, including captions that refer to him with nicknames like 'my glorious king LeBron.'"

TikTokers continued using You Are My Sunshine in LeBron videos over the following months. On January 24 and January 29, 2024, TikTokers @dropinsports and @perfectly_round posted slideshows praising LeBron to the song, garnering over 730,000 and 830,000 views, respectively, in two months.


On January 31, TikToker @widesquaretables posted a video drawing a portrait of LeBron set to the song, with the description reading, "LeBron, where do I even start?" This video received over 1.2 million views in two months.

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The meme continued to spread into March 2024. On March 12, 2024, TikToker @lesunshine_james posted a video showing an edited photo of LeBron glowing while the song plays, gaining over 68,000 views in 10 days.

READ MORE:‘I Just Watched LeBron Pout for the Last 9 Minutes’: James Criticized by Skip Bayless After Lakers Lose to Nuggets

The, what is the LeBonBon / LeEvil James meme?

LeBonBon and LeEvil James refer to nicknames and a series of memes depicting LeBron James in bright or dark alter egos. These memes began on TikTok in mid-March 2024 after the You Are My Sunshine edits, leading to more parodies and fan art showing James in various lights.

Ervil LeBaron, a cult leader of a Mormon fundamentalist sect, ordered the killings of his rivals from 1974 until his death in 1981. In 2024, he was featured in a Hulu documentary. His name became a common soundalike for LeBron James in ironic TikTok edits, with jokes that "Ervil LeBaron" sounds like "Evil LeBron."

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READ MORE:‘He Don’t Be Knowing Songs’: GloRilla Reacts to LeBron James Singing Yeah Glo; Judges Lakers Star's Rapping Skills


'Boy oh boy, LeBron' meaning

Videos aren't the only way users join this viral trend. They often include captions professing ironic love for James, usually starting with, "Boy oh boy, LeBron, where do I even begin."

These captions mock fans who defend James to an extreme, swooning over the Lakers star in a way that makes it clear the videos are satirical.

LeBron James 'You Are My Sunshine' meme song

The song used in most of these memes is Christina Perri's 'You Are My Sunshine.'Perri's version is just one of many renditions of the song, originally released in 1940 and featured in commercials, movies, and TV shows over the years. By using this song, users are ironically professing love for James, poking fun at his most passionate fans.

READ MORE:Did Nets Fans Sing ‘You Are My Sunshine’ To LeBron James After He Scored 40-Points Against Them? Exploring Viral Video

How Did LeBron James ‘You Are My Sunshine’ Become a Meme? All About TikTok Trend (2024)

FAQs

How Did LeBron James ‘You Are My Sunshine’ Become a Meme? All About TikTok Trend? ›

LeBron James 'You Are My Sunshine' meme explained

What is the LeBron "You Are My Sunshine" meme about? ›

LeBron James 'You Are My Sunshine' meme song

Quite literally, users are referring to James as their "sunshine" with their use of the song. The song simply expresses love for a person, and proponents of the meme are ironically professing love for James in a way that pokes fun at some of his most passionate defenders.

Why is LeBron You Are My Sunshine trending? ›

The "You Are My Sunshine" meme is a trend of TikTok users posting videos with the song, "You Are My Sunshine," playing over images or video of LeBron James. The trend originated in early 2023 as a way of mocking some of the most passionate fans of James.

What is the meaning of the You Are My Sunshine meme? ›

This is the meme's satirical strike against some clout kings, who are die-hard LeBron admirers. Die-hard fans of James have attached to him as he grew and developed throughout his ever-lasting career. They are his army, defending him always, whatever happens.

Why are people singing "You are my sunshine" on TikTok? ›

The trend features videos of fans in the crowd singing "You Are My Sunshine," poking fun at the extremes of fandom surrounding the basketball legend. By adding singing over videos and pictures of LeBron James, TikTok users sought to exaggerate the adoration for James to the point of parody.

Who made You Are My Sunshine popular? ›

One of the classic country songs of all time, Jimmie Davis' “You Are My Sunshine” burst the then-narrow bounds of that genre at a time (1940) when such crossover hits were virtually unprecedented, paving the way over the next few years for songs like “New San Antonio Rose,” “Pistol Packing Mama,” and “There's A Star ...

What is the purpose of the song You Are My Sunshine? ›

“You Are My Sunshine” is often called “heartwarming”, but a close look at the lyrics after the first verse shows that they're better described as “heartbreaking”. It's about unrequited love. This song has enjoyed enduring popularity for nine decades.

What is LeBron TikTok? ›

LeBron James (@lebronjamesofficial) | TikTok.

Is "You Are My Sunshine" a sad song? ›

If you've ever read the lyrics to this sunshine song, it's not meant to be a happy song at ALL. It's about betrayal, loss, and loneliness.

Who did LeBron James look up too? ›

LeBron James spoke about looking up to legends like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, and Magic Johnson.

Where did the LeBron "You Are My Sunshine" come from? ›

The song became associated with a viral internet meme in 2024, after it was part of a video featuring NBA player LeBron James, in which Christina Perri's cover of the song is played over a heavily edited portrait photo of James, intended to mock obsessive and defensive fans of James, framing him as their sunshine.

Can you say sunshine to a girl? ›

The word Sunshine is usually used as a nickname for girls. Frequent usage of the word Sunshine by someone close enough reflects their affection.

What does be my sunshine mean? ›

What does it mean if someone says that you are their 'sunshine'? It's a metaphor. Sunshine is normally associated with light and warmth. The person is saying that you bring light and warmth into their life.

What is the LeBron Sunshine meme? ›

What is the LeBron you are my sunshine mean? This is an extension of the LeBron glazing trend. And that trend. people are making fun of people who really support LeBron, talking about how protective they are over him and everything.

Why are the voices on TikTok weird? ›

The first thing to clarify: TikTok voices are heavily linked to the content of the video. A video of a skunk doing a handstand (yes, this exists) is going to be narrated differently to a video of overnight oats.

Does "You are my sunshine" have a dark meaning? ›

Delving deeper, You Are My Sunshine can be perceived as a dark song. The fear of abandonment and the pain of unrequited love are themes that run deep, making the song relatable to many who have experienced similar heartache.

Why did Carl sing You Are My Sunshine? ›

As part of paying off his "debt" to him, Negan asks Carl to sing to him, and Carl weakly sings "You Are My Sunshine". This leads to Carl explaining how he had to shoot his mother to prevent her from turning.

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