LIL NAS X and his inescapable hit “Old Town Road” have made chart history.  The song has now spent apreviously unprecedented 17 weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, which has been around for 60 years.

 

 

The previous record of 16 weeks was shared by the 2017 hit “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee, and Justin Bieber . . . and the 1995 hit “One Sweet Day” by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men.

 

 

For perspective, “Old Town Road” first took over the top spot back on April 13th.  The last time someone besides Lil Nas X was #1, “Avengers: Endgame” was still weeks away . . .

 

 

A large part of the country had still never heard of Megan Rapinoe, and the final season of “Game of Thrones” had yet to even start.

 

 

For what it’s worth, the haters will point out that “Old Town Road” leveraged Billboard’s nebulous remix policy, which allowsremixes of a song to contribute to the chart total of the original, as long as the remix is musically similar enough.

 

 

“Old Town Road” now has five official versions, the latest of which came out last week.  And for better or worse, there are surely more to come.