Lil Nas X made history on Monday (July 29) when his megahit "Old Town Road" remix featuring Billy Ray Cyrus completed its 17th week straight topping the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The feat officially makes the song the longest running No. 1 single of all time, beating out Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men's "One Sweet Day," which topped the charts for 16 weeks in 1995-1996, as well as Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's "Despacito" (Remix) featuring Justin Bieber, which tied the record in 2017.

The rapper celebrated the occasion with a thoughtful Instagram documenting the steps it took for his track to become the sensation it is today in a series of photos.

"last year in october, as a struggling artist starting to lose faith in what i could be, i went looking for beats on youtube." he began the lengthy, emoji-laden caption. "i remember clicking on so many generic sounding beats trying to find the right one for me. when suddenly i came across a country-trap sounding masterpiece. i immediately knew i would make something special out of it! my sister told me i had little time left before i had to leave her house after being there for months promoting my music online and not helping her out much. i was so upset! i used it as motivation for the song! i jokingly/seriously saw myself as a loner cowboy needing to run away from it all! I went out on my sister’s back porch and listened to the beat OVER & OVER & OVER!! then it came to me!! in my best singing voice i sung 'YEAHHH IM GONNA TAKE MY HORSE TO THE OLD TOWN ROAD  IM GONNA RIDEEEE TIL I CANT NO MORE' I LOVED IT ALREADY!"

"i started to work on it EVERY SINGLE DAY. it needed to be funny, it needed to be catchy, it needed to be hip hop, it needed to be country, & it needed to be short!!" he continued. "by the time i was finished setting it up i was out of my sister’s crib and at my brothers place. on december 2nd i went into the studio & recorded OLD TOWN ROAD & put it out the exact same day!! did i know it would become the longest running number 1 song of all time? NO! but i am so thankful that this blessing has been placed upon me. this song has changed my life and the way i see the world around me in less than a year. thank you to every single person who has been apart of this journey. as i said before, it’s just the beginning!"

Cyrus also issued a statement about the achievement. "17 is my new favorite number! 17 weeks No. 1 Single ‘Old Town Road.’ 17 weeks No. 1 Album Some Gave All. My goal was always to make music that would touch people's lives around the world," he said.

Since dropping the viral track, Lil Nas X has recruited several stars for other remixes of the song, including BTS' RM. This year has been memorable for personal reasons too. The 20-year-old publicly came out as gay last month.

 

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