Winner’s Circle: Lil Nas X’s ‘Old Town Road’ Breaks Record With 17th Week Atop Billboard Hot 100
Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road," featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, claims one of the most prized records in the Billboard Hot 100's 60-year history as it spends an unprecedented 17th week at No. 1.
Lil Nas X‘s “Old Town Road,” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, claims one of the most prized records in the Billboard Hot 100‘s 60-year history as it spends an unprecedented 17th week at No. 1.
“Road” bests the previous record of 16 weeks first achieved by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men‘s “One Sweet Day,” in 1995-96, and later matched by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee‘s “Despacito,” featuring Justin Bieber in 2017.
Let’s run down the top 10 of this history-making week on Hot 100 (dated Aug. 3), which blends all-genre U.S. streaming, radio airplay and digital sales data. All charts will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (July 30).
With a 17th week atop the Hot 100 for “Old Town Road,” here’s an updated leaderboard of the 10 longest-leading No. 1s in the chart’s archives:
Weeks at No. 1, Title, Artist, Date Reached No. 1
17, “Old Town Road,” Lil Nas X feat. Billy Ray Cyrus, April 13, 2019
16, “Despacito,” Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee feat. Justin Bieber, May 27, 2017
16, “One Sweet Day,” Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men, Dec. 2, 1995
14, “Uptown Funk!,” Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars, Jan. 17, 2015
14, “I Gotta Feeling,” The Black Eyed Peas, July 11, 2009
14, “We Belong Together,” Mariah Carey, June 4, 2005
14, “Candle in the Wind 1997″/”Something About the Way You Look Tonight,” Elton John, Oct. 11, 1997
14, “Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix),” Los Del Rio, Aug. 3, 1996
14, “I’ll Make Love to You,” Boyz II Men, Aug. 27, 1994
14, “I Will Always Love You,” Whitney Houston, Nov. 28, 1992
“Road” takes its place in Hot 100 history alongside notable record-setters. Among the most distinguished achievements, The Beatles boast the most No. 1s (20), Carey has spent the most time at No. 1 (79 weeks) while, upon the chart’s 60th anniversary last August, Chubby Checker‘s classic “The Twist” claimed the top spot on the Hot 100’s Greatest of All Time retrospective chart.
As on the Hot 100, “Road” (on Columbia Records) leads the Streaming Songs chart for a 17th week, another record-breaking mark, topping the 16-week run of “Despacito.” “Road” rules Streaming Songs with 72.5 million U.S. streams, down 16%, in the week ending July 25, according to Nielsen Music. “Road” set the record for the top streaming week (143 million) following the April 5 arrival of its remix solely with Cyrus (who has been billed on 16 of the song’s 17 weeks atop the Hot 100) and claims nine of the 11 biggest streaming frames to date, including the top three.
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Helping its total this week, a meta-named “Week 17 Version” video of “Road” premiered on July 19. The clip truncates the song’s official music video, released May 17, by removing various skits that feature guest cameos from Chris Rock and others.
To help his week 18 chances, Lil Nas X unleashed yet another remix of “Road,” this time alongside RM of BTS, at the tail end of the latest tracking week, which closed July 25. That version, “Old Town Road (Seoul Town Road Remix)” will see its full impact on the following week’s Hot 100. The “Seoul” remix is, per Lil Nas X’s tweet shortly before its release, the “last one i PROMISSEE.” The RM collaboration marks the fourth official reworking of the viral smash, following turns by Cyrus; Diplo; and Young Thug and Mason Ramsey.
Back to this week: “Road” spends a 13th frame atop the Digital Song Sales chart with 46,000 downloads sold (up 1%) in the week ending July 25. On Radio Songs, where it reached No. 2, “Road” backtracks 10-14, with 47 million audience impressions, down 12%, in the week ending July 28.
“Road” concurrently leads the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts for a 17th week each and the Songs of the Summer chart for a ninth frame, having led the list each week since its annual return after Memorial Day.
Billie Eilish‘s “Bad Guy” notches a seventh total week at its No. 2 Hot 100 high, as it holds in the runner-up slot on Streaming Songs (50.9 million, down 9%) slides 2-5 on Digital Song Sales (22,000, down 34%) an climbs 5-4 on Radio Songs (89.3 million, up 5%). The song gained in all metrics the previous week, boosted by a remix with Justin Bieber, released July 11, just ahead of the July 12-18 streaming and sales tracking week that fed last week’s July 27-dated charts.
On this week’s Aug. 3-dated Hot 100, “Road” dips by 13% in overall metrics and “Guy” lowers by 9% as “Road” sports a 1.2-to-1 points difference over “Guy” (after leading by 1.3-to-1 last week).
Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello’s “Senorita” returns to the Hot 100’s top three with a 4-3 bump after having debuted at No. 2 on the chart dated July 6. The song ascends into the top 10 on Radio Songs (11-9) as it surges to 66.9 million in audience, up 27%, and seizes the Hot 100’s Airplay Gainer award. The bump secures Mendes’ seventh Radio Songs top 10, while Cabello snags her fourth as a soloist.
Khalid’s “Talk,” likewise rises one rung on the Hot 100 (5-4) after having reached No. 3. It leads the all-genre Radio Songs for a seventh week (134.5 million, up 1%) and wins a 14th term atop the streaming-, airplay- and sales-fueled Hot R&B Songs chart.
The Hot 100 welcomes a new member to the top five as Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts” rises 6-5. The singer-songwriter-flautist’s mainstream breakthrough reaches new highs on both Streaming Songs (7-5) and Radio Songs (8-7), improving 8% to 28.5 million clicks on the former survey and 20% to 77.8 million in audience on the latter.
Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber’s “I Don’t Care” backtracks 3-6 on the Hot 100 as it spends a second week atop the Pop Songs airplay chart. Meanwhile, the track’s parent album, Sheeran’s No.6 Collaborations Project, logs a second week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
Nos. 7-9 remain steady on the Hot 100, with Post Malone’s “Goodbyes,” featuring Young Thug, holding at No. 7. The Jonas Brothers’ former No. 1, “Sucker,” ranks directly below; the song debuted in the top slot in March. Post Malone also ranks at No. 9 thanks to “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse),” with Swae Lee. As “Sunflower” banks its 32nd week in the Hot 100’s top 10, it moves within one week of tying the all-time mark – 33 weeks – shared by Sheeran’s “Shape of You” and Maroon 5’s “Girls Like You,” featuring Cardi B, achieved in 2017 and 2018-19, respectively.
Speaking of “you,” Shawn Mendes rounds out the Hot 100’s top 10 as “If I Can’t Have You” jumps 13-10 and returns to the Hot 100’s upper reaches for the first time since its No. 2 debut in May. With “Senorita” and “You,” Mendes claims concurrent top 10 hits on the Hot 100 for the first time in his career. He becomes the sixth act to double up in the top 10 in 2019, joining Drake, Ariana Grande, Halsey, Post Malone and Travis Scott.
Find out more Hot 100 news on Billboard.com this week, and, for all chart news, you can listen (and subscribe) to Billboard’s Chart Beat Podcast and Pop Shop Podcast and follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram. And again, be sure to visit Billboard.com tomorrow (July 30), when all charts, including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh.
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