Lil Nas X made history. The singer's hit song Old Town Road conquered one of the longest-half records in music history. He now has the longest standing run at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 list. Old Town Road just secured it’s a spot at number one for the 17th week in a row.
The record was previously set by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men in 1996, and the only song to come close to breaking it was the ubiquitous international hit Despacito, which tied the 16-week record in 2017.
"YEEE TF HAWWW," Lil Nas X tweeted on Monday.
Old Town Road, which has achieved most of its success through audio streaming, was originally a solo song but 20-year-old Lil Nas X added Billy Ray Cyrus to the track. The song also has remix versions featuring Diplo, Young Thug, Mason Ramsey and BTS, and Billboard counts the original song and its remixes as one when calculating chart position, thus helping Old Town Road stay on top.
"17 is my new favourite number," Cyrus said in a statement Monday, also referring to his debut album "Some Gave All," which spent 17 weeks at No. 1 in 1992. "My goal was always to make music that would touch people's lives around the world."
Old Town Road initially was in a bit of controversy in March when Billboard removed it from its country charts, deeming it not country enough (it peaked at No. 19 on the country charts). But the drama didn't hurt the song; it only propelled it.
Songs have come close to displacing Old Town Road from the top spot — including Billie Eilish's Bad Guy and a pair of Taylor Swift singles — but ultimately were unsuccessful.
Swift was successful in 2017 when her song Look What You Made Me Do stopped Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber's Despacito from reaching a 17th week at No 1. Celine Dion's Because You Loved Me ended Carey and Boyz II Men's epic run in 1996.