It’s official! Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus has broken the record for longest consecutive No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The 20-year-old’s debut track has now spent more weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 than any other song in history. Yee-haw to that.
At 17 weeks, Lil Nas X broke the record previously held by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men’s “One Sweet Day” & Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito” featuring Daddy Yankee, according to Billboard. Both of those songs spent 16 weeks on top the Hot 100 in 1995-96 and 2017, respectively.
After that many weeks, it’s almost hard to remember a time when Lil Nas X’s country-trap hit wasn’t at the top of the charts. In fact, it was way back in March when it first debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100. As the rapper joked, “It’s crazy how any baby born after March has not lived in a world where old town road wasn’t number 1.”
On a more serious note, Lil Nas X celebrated breaking the record on Instagram by looking back on how far he’s come. He talked about finding a beat that was a “country-trap sounding masterpiece” and writing this song on his sister’s porch back in December. At the time he was thinking about giving up on music. Luckily, he didn’t.
“This song has changed my life and the way I see the world around me in less than a year,” he wrote. “Thank you to every single person who has been apart of this journey. As I said before, it’s just the beginning!”