“Old Town Road” Makes Chart History

Lil Nas X‘s freight train of a hit, “Old Town Road,” has spent 17 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, making it the longest-running No. 1 hit in the history of the chart. The feat breaks a previous tie for the longest run at No. 1 on the Hot 100, set by the 1995 hit “One Sweet Day” from Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men, as well as the 2017 hit “Despacito” from Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee (ft. Justin Bieber), each with a 16-week reign.

“Old Town Road” was originally released as a solo track, before the genre-bending Lil Nas X added country entertainer Billy Ray Cyrus to a remixed version of the song. Subsequent remixes of the viral hit have featured Young Thug, Mason Ramsey, Diplo and BTS. The release of each remix brought a newly-consumable version of the song to the music-streaming public, and extended its stay in the public consciousness. The Hot 100 chart includes both the original version of a song and its remixes to feed into the calculation of a track’s chart position, which helped “Old Town Road” retain its staying power atop the chart.

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Jessica Nicholson

Jessica Nicholson serves as the Managing Editor for MusicRow magazine. Her previous music journalism experience includes work with Country Weekly magazine and Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) magazine. She holds a BBA degree in Music Business and Marketing from Belmont University. She welcomes your feedback at [email protected].

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