Lil Nas X continues his historic run atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart. “Old Town Road” just notched its 18th week at number one on Monday, August 5, according to the latest report by Billboard.
This puts him two weeks above the record previously set by Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men‘s “One Sweet Day” and Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee‘s (featuring Justin Bieber) ‘Despacito”. The Georgia native broke theirs one week ago today, much to the shock and awe of the music industry. The pop icon and R&B group held that honor for nearly twenty years before Luis and co tied it in the summer of 2017.
Lil Nas, 20, has been able to hold off some pretty big competition for the number one spot over the past four months. Both of Taylor Swift‘s first singles from her upcoming album Lover (“ME!” featuring Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco and “You Need to Calm Down”) only made it to number two on the chart. She’s had a slew of songs debut at number one in the past including “Look What You Made Me Do” and “Shake It Off.”
Other hits that have yet to reach number one include Billie Eilish‘s “Bad Guy”, Khalid‘s “Talk” and Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello‘s “Senorita.”
The strength of “OTR” goes beyond its original version featuring country legend Billy Ray Cyrus. Lil Nas has released several remixes that have helped keep it at number one that feature acts like Diplo and Young Thug.
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He celebrated the news of “OTR” hitting 18 weeks by posting a screenshot from the video that has earned him 8 MTV Video Music Award nominations. He’s up for Best New Artist and Video of the Year at the upcoming ceremony on August 26, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Lil Nas came out as gay on June 30, 2019, otherwise known as the last day of Pride month. He’s been met with a ton of support by fans and celebs alike including Cardi B and Dennis Rodman.