“Old Town Road” Has Now Been #1 Longer Than Any Other Hip-Hop Song
The “Old Town Road” behemoth has checked off some new statistical milestones. Billboard confirms that Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus’ mega-hit remains #1 on the Hot 100 for a 13th straight week, only the 12th song to spend that many weeks atop the chart since it launched in 1958. It also surpasses Eminem’s “Lose Yourself,” the Black Eyed Peas’ “Boom Boom Pow,” and Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth’s “See You Again” to claim the longest run at #1 by a hip-hop song.
Reaching its 13th week at #1 ties “Old Town Road” with two great ’90s pop-R&B songs on the list of most weeks atop the Hot 100: Boyz II Men’s “End Of The Road” and Brandy and Monica’s “The Boy Is Mine.” If it lasts one more week, “Old Town Road” will move into an eight-way tie with Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” Boyz II Men’s “I’ll Make Love To You,” Los Del Río’s “Macarena (Bayside Boys Remix),” Elton John’s “Candle In The Wind 1997,” Mariah Carey’s “We Belong Together,” the Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling,” and Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk.” If it makes it to 15 weeks it will stand as one of only three songs to endure that long. The other two made it all the way to 16, the all-time record: Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men’s “One Sweet Day” and Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee, and Justin Bieber’s “Despacito.”
Lil Nas X also came out as gay Sunday, which, depending on how you spin it, makes “Old Town Road” the first #1 by an out gay man since John’s aforementioned “Candle In The Wind 1997.” There have since been #1s by men who later came out, such as Ricky Martin and Savage Garden’s Darren Hayes, but none by an artist who was out at the time. Technically all 13 weeks of this song’s reign happened before Lil Nas X came out, so if we’re being sticklers here “Old Town Road” needs to spend another week atop the Hot 100 to qualify for this stat. Viewed another way, Lil Nas X is out right now, and his song is #1 right now. Either way it feels historic.
In other Hot 100 news, Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello’s “Señorita” debuts at #2, becoming the latest hit from a superstar artist to be blocked from #1 by “Old Town Road.” Mendes’ prior single “If I Can’t Have You” fell victim to the same fate. Taylor Swift’s “You Need To Calm Down,” which debuted at #2 last week, falls to #13 this week but is the top-gaining song at radio this week.