The song has spent 17 weeks in the number one spot, topping the previous record held by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men’s “One Sweet Day” as well as Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber’s “Despacito”.
“Old Town Road” was produced by YoungKio based on a sample of Nine Inch Nails’ “34 Ghosts IV” and was originally released independently on December 3, 2018. The song initially went viral after becoming the “Yeehaw Challenge” meme on TikTok, and in March 2019, Lil Nas X signed to Columbia Records.
The song simultaneously charted on the Billboard Hot 100, Hot Country Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts in March 2019, although the song was later removed by Billboard from their Hot Country chart, as it did “not embrace enough elements of today’s country music”. Lil Nas X then went on to collaborate with country music icon Billy Ray Cyrus for a new version of the track.
The past 17 weeks has also given us remixes of “Old Town Road” featuring Diplo, Mason Ramsey (AKA the Walmart yodeling kid) and Young Thug, and RM of BTS, furthering the original song’s commercial longevity and success.
Lil Nas X released his debut EP 7 in June, which reached number two on the Billboard 200 album charts.