"Old Town Road" is the debut mainstreamsingle by the American rapper and singerLil Nas X, first released independently in December 2018. After gaining popularity, the single was re-released byColumbia Records in March 2019. He also recorded a remix with Americancountry singerBilly Ray Cyrus, which was released on April 5, 2019. Both were included on Lil Nas X's second studioextended play (EP),7 (2019). The song was recorded on the 2nd of December, 2019, at CinCoYo, based inAtlanta, Georgia. The song has been widely viewed as "country rap", a somewhat rare musical style not often heard in the mainstream prior to this song's release. Dutch record producerYoungKio composed the instrumental and made it available for purchase online in 2018. It features asample of "34 Ghosts IV" by the Americanindustrial rock bandNine Inch Nails. The sample was placed behindtrap-styleRoland TR-808 drums and bass. Lil Nas X purchased the instrumental for US$30 and recorded "Old Town Road" in one day. At the time, he had been living with his sister after dropping out of college; his real-world struggles were an influence on some of the lyrics.
The song initially gained popularity on the video sharing appTikTok and eventually entered theBillboard charts in March 2019.[3] The song also reached number 19 on theBillboardHot Country Songs chart before the magazine disqualified it from the chart on the grounds that it did not "fit" the genre, sparking a debate on what constitutes the "definition" of country music. Though "Old Town Road" did not re-enter any country charts, both versions of the song collectively peaked at number one on theBillboard Hot 100, remaining at the top for arecord-breaking 19 consecutive weeks (later tied withShaboozey's "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" and surpassed byMariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You"); the remix peaked at no. 50 onBillboard's Country Airplay chart. One or more versions of "Old Town Road" have topped the national singles charts in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, and have charted in the top 10 in various other international markets.
Lil Nas X (pictured) leased the beat for "Old Town Road" anonymously on an online store from producer YoungKio for $30.[10]
Country rap, and its subgenre, country trap, emerged onto the mainstream following the American rapperYoung Thug's experimental mixtapeBeautiful Thugger Girls (2017).[11] Lil Nas X has cited Young Thug as a pioneer of country trap.[12] In May 2018,Lil Tracy andLil Uzi Vert ignited the trend with their country rap single "Like a Farmer (Remix)".[11][13]
In 2018, Lil Nas X dropped out of college to pursue a music career even though he was discouraged by his parents. He moved in with his sister, spending time promoting his music on the Internet while having just three hours of sleep each night. Lil Nas X found the beat for "Old Town Road" in October 2018 and began writing after his sister told him he had to move out soon.[14] Lil Nas X felt like he was "out of options" and said that his sister's and parents' frustrations with him inspired the song's chorus, "can't nobody tell me nothing". Within a month of writing it, Lil Nas X chose to alter the song's meaning so that the "old town road" would be a symbol of success.[12] Lil Nas X recorded the song on December 2, 2018,[14] at the CinCoYo Recording Studio inAtlanta,[15] and released it the same day onSoundCloud under the title "Old Town Road (I Got the Horses in the Back)".[14][16]
The Dutch record producerYoungKio produced the beat a year before the song's release and uploaded it asFuture Type Beat[17] to his online store for sellingbeats. He sampledNine Inch Nails' track "34 Ghosts IV" after finding it from his YouTube algorithm's suggested videos. YoungKio downloaded the song and imported the file toFL Studio, chopping up the Nine Inch Nails sample and filtering it so that it sounded like an oldfield recording, then reordering sections in an effort to make the austere original more catchy and adding drums underneath.[18][17] He had never heard of Nine Inch Nails before stumbling upon "34 Ghosts IV".[10] YoungKio did not have the intention of the beat being country related and did not see it as a country music instrumental.[19] Lil Nas X bought the beat from YoungKio for $30,[10] but since purchases on his online store were anonymous, YoungKio did not know the song was purchased by Lil Nas X until he saw it in anInstagram meme in December 2018.[19] Nine Inch Nails founderTrent Reznor later said that, shortly after the song began gaining traction, he received a call from Lil Nas X's manager about the sample, asking for clearance to use it, which he granted. He described the song as "undeniably hooky".[20]
On December 4, 2018, a day after the original version's release, Lil Nas X tweeted that he wantedBilly Ray Cyrus on the song.[21] Lil Nas X knew of Cyrus because of his role on the Disney Channel television seriesHannah Montana.[22] The country singerJake Owen was originally approached to co-write and record the first remix of "Old Town Road".[23] The Columbia Records executive,Ron Perry, reached out to Cyrus' wifeTish Cyrus saying that he would love it if Cyrus were to hear "Old Town Road". Cyrus first heard the song over coffee on March 16, 2019, when Tish played it to him.[24] Cyrus explained that he loved the original song the first time he heard it.[25] Cyrus also mentioned that he related to the song the first time he heard it, connecting the "old town road" to the Old Town Bridge inArgillite, Kentucky, that he used to play on as a child.[26] In response toBillboard removing "Old Town Road" from the Hot Country Songs chart, Cyrus tweeted his support for Lil Nas X and noted that the removal put him in the ranks of great outlaws.[27]
Sample of "Old Town Road (Remix)" featuring parts of Lil Nas X singing the chorus and Billy Ray Cyrus' verse, displaying the mixture of country and hip hop blended together to make the song
"Old Town Road" was released independently as a single on December 3, 2018; this was during the rise of the "Yeehaw Agenda"meme, a movement inspired by cowboy fashion and culture.[40] Danny Kang, the manager of the viral country artistMason Ramsey, suggested toRolling Stone that Lil Nas X listed the song under the country music genre onSoundCloud andiTunes as a way to manipulate chart algorithms, as it would be easier to top the country charts than the dominant hip hop/rap charts.[36] Lil Nas X began creating memes to promote "Old Town Road" before it was picked up byTikTok users.[12] The song's first music video is composed entirely of footage and clips from the 2018Westernaction-adventure game,Red Dead Redemption 2.[41]
The song gained traction in late December 2018 after becoming the "Yeehaw Challenge" meme on TikTok, where users created short videos set to the song. The challenge is credited with launching the song to enter theBillboard Hot 100 at number 83,[42] the chart on which the song has since peaked at number one.[43] The song's popularity grew so quickly that radio stations had to download the audio fromYouTube.[36] On March 22, 2019, the success of the song allowed Lil Nas X to sign toColumbia Records, which now distributes the single.[35]
The first official remix of "Old Town Road", featuring the American country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, was released on April 5, 2019, byColumbia Records. The remix was recorded in support of "Old Town Road" being recognized as a country song.[44] A limited edition7-inch vinyl single was made available for purchase on May 1, 2019, with the remix on the A-side and the original on the B-side.[45] The remix was eventually included with the original on Lil Nas X's second EP,7. The music video for the remix was released on May 17, 2019. It was directed byCalmatic, and has guest appearances byChris Rock, HaHa Davis,Rico Nasty,Diplo, Jozzy, Young Kio andVince Staples.[46][47]
On March 29, 2019, Lil Nas X danced to "Old Town Road" with theAtlanta Hawks cheerleaders during a basketball game atState Farm Arena.[48] On April 29, 2019, Lil Nas X and Cyrus performed the live debut of "Old Town Road" as part of Diplo's set at theStagecoach Festival.[49] On June 24, 2019, Lil Nas X and Cyrus performed the song together on a saloon-themed stage for the2019 BET Awards.[50] On January 26, 2020, Lil Nas X performed "Old Town Road" at the62nd Annual Grammy Awards withDiplo,BTS,Mason Ramsey and Billy Ray Cyrus, before finishing his performance with the remix of "Rodeo" along withNas.
Assisted by a remix featuringBilly Ray Cyrus (pictured), "Old Town Road" charted at number one on theBillboard Hot 100 for a record-setting nineteen weeks.
In the United States, the original version of "Old Town Road" reached number one on theBillboard Hot 100 in the week ending April 13, 2019;[43] at one minute and 53 seconds in length, it became the shortest number-one single since "I'm Henry VIII, I Am" byHerman's Hermits in 1965 and the fifth-shortest in the history of the chart.[51] In the following week, it and the newly released remix featuring Billy Ray Cyrus received a combined 143 million streams, surpassingDrake's "In My Feelings", which in the previous year had amassed 116.2 million in the same period, as the song with the highest single-week streaming figure in the country.[52] This song also became Cyrus's biggest hit in the U.S. since "Achy Breaky Heart" peaked at number four on theBillboard Hot 100 27 years prior.[53] "Old Town Road" continued to exceed 100 million streams in each of the eight following weeks, and in June 2019, was responsible for the three highest weekly U.S. streaming totals in the history of digital music, as well as nine of the eleven highest overall.[54][55] In October 2019, "Old Town Road" became the fastest single in RIAA history to receive diamond certification in the United States. The certification, which is awarded to singles that attain national combined sales and streams of ten million units, was achieved by the song in its eleventh month of release.[56][57] The single had sold 1.6 million digital copies in the United States by February 2020.[58]
"Old Town Road" topped the Hot 100 for 19 consecutive weeks from April 13 to August 17, 2019. On August 24, it was finally unseated byBillie Eilish's "Bad Guy" which had waited in the runner-up spot for nine nonconsecutive weeks. "Old Town Road" holds the record for the most consecutive weeks at number one on the Hot 100 chart, surpassing the previous record of 16 weeks achieved by both "One Sweet Day" byMariah Carey andBoyz II Men (1995–96), and "Despacito" byLuis Fonsi andDaddy Yankee featuringJustin Bieber (2017).[55] Its record has since been tied by "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" byShaboozey, which achieved 19 consecutive weeks on the chart dated November 25, 2024,[59] while Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" broke its record for longest-running number one song in December 2025, achieving 20 non-consecutive weeks at number one on the chart dated December 20, 2025 ("Christmas" has since achieved 22 non-consecutive weeks at number one as of the chart dated January 3, 2026).[60] In July 2019, "Old Town Road" also became the first number-one single on theRolling Stone Top 100 chart when it held the position in the chart's inaugural edition.[61] In accordance with their methodologies,Billboard andRolling Stone each assign a single position to "Old Town Road" on their respective charts by combining the performance figures of every released version of the song determined to be sufficiently similar to the original.[62][63] The former publication credits the entirety of the song's chart run solely to the remix featuring Cyrus.[52][62]
Elsewhere, the original version of the song topped the national singles charts in at least ten other countries — Australia (thirteen weeks),[64] France and Norway (eight weeks each),[65][66] Austria (six weeks);[67] Switzerland (five weeks),[68] Denmark, Germany and Ireland (four weeks each),[69] Portugal (three weeks),[70] and the United Kingdom (two weeks)[71] — and charted within the top ten in more than five others.[72] The remix featuring Cyrus achieved a record 19-weeks run at number one on theCanadian Hot 100,[73][74][better source needed] and peaked within the top five in more than five other markets.[72]
Billboard (logo illustrated) controversially removed "Old Town Road" from itsHot Country Songs chart after it debuted at number 19.[75][34][76]
"Old Town Road" achieved a rare feat inBillboard history when it simultaneously charted on theBillboard Hot 100,Hot Country Songs andHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts in March 2019.[a] However,Billboard quietly removed "Old Town Road" from its Hot Country chart for "not [embracing] enough elements of today's country music".[36] Had it not been disqualified, "Old Town Road" would have been the Hot Country Songsnumber-one song, in the chart dated April 6, 2019.[78] Lil Nas X said he was "extremely disappointed" by the decision.[79] In an interview,Time reporter Andrew R. Chow brought upBillboard's decision to remove "Old Town Road" from the country chart but to keep it on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart, asking Lil Nas X if he considered "Old Town Road" a country song. Lil Nas X replied, "The song is country trap. It's not one, it's not the other. It's both. It should be on both [charts]."[12] Lil Nas X submitted the song for consideration in rap categories at the62nd Annual Grammy Awards; however, the award show's rap committee recategorized it inBest Pop Duo/Group Performance,[80] where it ultimately won.[81]
The exclusion of "Old Town Road" brought criticism of the evaluation of the work of non-white artists in the country genre, with theRolling Stone writer Elias Leight referring toBeyoncé, another black artist, whose song "Daddy Lessons" failed to be considered a country song byThe Recording Academy in 2016.[36] Leight also pointed out other difficulties faced by black artists making cross-genre music, noting that the rapperJuice Wrld'sDeath Race for Love (2019) would "probably be the most commercially successful rock album of 2019", but would never appear on rock charts or playlists, another genre, like country, predominated by white artists.[36] In the music journalistRobert Christgau's opinion, "Taking 'Old Town Road' off the country chart strikes me as racist pure and simple, becausecountry radio remains racist regardless of theDarius Ruckers andKane Browns it makes room for."[82] In light of the criticism,Billboard later stated that the decision to remove "Old Town Road" from the Hot Country Songs chart had nothing to do with Lil Nas X's race.[75] When asked if he believed the decision byBillboard had any racial undertones, Lil Nas X replied, "I believe whenever you're trying something new, it's always going to get some kind of bad reception."[12]
Despite being removed from the main Country Songs chart, "Old Town Road" managed to chart onBillboard'sCountry Airplay chart, entering at number 53 and peaking at number 50.[83][84] In response,Sony Music Nashville CEO Randy Goodman toldBillboard that his team had started testing the song in some country radio markets, adding "it would be negligent not to look at it".[83]
Diplo (left) andYoung Thug (right) had each experimented with country music before their respective "Old Town Road" remixes
The single's second official remix, "Old Town Road (Diplo Remix)", was released on April 29, 2019, with additional production by the American DJDiplo. The country music website,The Boot, described it as a "remix of [a] remix" as it still retained vocals from Billy Ray Cyrus.[87] The remix was premiered at Diplo's set for the country musicStagecoach Festival alongside the first-ever live performance of "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X and Cyrus.[88] Just before Lil Nas X and Cyrus' surprise on-stage appearance at Stagecoach 2019, Diplo claimed. "Let me tell you, ["Old Town Road" is] a country song."[87] The Diplo remix peaked at number 24 on theRMNZ New Zealand Hot Singles chart.[89] The remix is included on Diplo's second studio album,Diplo Presents Thomas Wesley, Chapter 1: Snake Oil (2020).[90]
A third official remix, titled "Old Town Road (Remix)", was released on July 12, 2019. It retains Cyrus' guest appearance and adds the American rapperYoung Thug and the American singerMason Ramsey. The remix was released in an effort to keep "Old Town Road" at number one on theBillboard Hot 100, as the song was two weeks away from tying for the all-time Hot 100 record held by "One Sweet Day" byMariah Carey andBoyz II Men and "Despacito" byLuis Fonsi featuringDaddy Yankee; it has since broken that record.[91][92][93] In an interview withBillboard in March 2019, the producer YoungKio said that he would want Young Thug for a remix of "Old Town Road", saying, "I've listened to every single song of his, and I think he's qualified to do this remix. I've listened toBeautiful Thugger Girls, and he has some country vibes on there."[19] Young Thug has been previously credited with bringing country trap into the mainstream with his experimental mixtape,Beautiful Thugger Girls (2017).[11] Lil Nas X called him a pioneer of bridging the gap between country and trap.[12]
The single's fourth official remix, "Old Town Road (Seoul Town Road Remix)", featuring the South Korean rapperRM ofBTS was released on July 24, 2019. It is the only official remix to not feature Cyrus. Lil Nas X announced shortly afterwards that "Seoul Town Road" would be the final remix.[94] It reached number eight on the RMNZNew Zealand Hot Singles chart.[95] Fellow American country singerJake Owen and fellow American rapperLil Wayne both recorded verses for planned remixes that were unofficially released. Owen's remix was shared onThe Bobby Bones Show in May 2019 and his verse was later replaced by Ramsey.[23][96] Lil Wayne's remix was leaked on July 25, 2019, and he performed it live atLollapalooza the next month.[97] The American rapperCupcakke released her leaked remix of "Old Town Road", titled "Old Town Hoe", on April 17, 2019. The remix reinterprets the lyric "I'm gonna ride 'til I can't no more" in a sexually explicit way.[98] A music video was released in May 2019 and has Cupcakke and herbackup dancers ridingtoy horses and handlingphallic objects, includinglollipops,water bottles andcorn on the cob.[99] Lil Nas X responded favorably to the remix.[100]
^While at least one source claims that this was the first instance,[42] there has been at least one other song to achieve that: "We Are the World", which appeared on six charts simultaneously, the aforementioned three plus thedance,adult contemporary androck charts.[77]
^Rambarran, Shara (2021).Virtual Music Sound, Music, and Image in the Digital Era. New York: Bloomsbury Academic & Professional.ISBN978-1-5013-3362-0.OCLC1236265553.
^Jonathan Bernstein (April 5, 2019)."'Old Town Road' and the History of Black Cowboys in America".Rolling Stone. RetrievedApril 5, 2019.Today, Lil Nas X released a remix of the song with country-crossover singer Billy Ray Cyrus, who says he "loved the song the first time I heard it."
^ab*"IFPI ČR – Hitparáda" [IFPI CR – Hit Parade].IFPI Czech Republic (in Czech).IFPI.Archived from the original on November 3, 2020. RetrievedAugust 16, 2019.Note: Change the chart toCZ – SINGLES DIGITAL – TOP 100, chooseMěsíc201904 and selectZobrazit (Display).
"מדיה פורסט – המצעד הישראלי השבועי" [Media Forest – The Weekly Israeli Hit Parade].Media Forest (in Hebrew). Archived fromthe original on July 16, 2019. RetrievedAugust 16, 2019.Note: Change the year to2019, change the week to18 28-04-19 04-05-19, and selectשירים מובילים - רדיו - בינלאומי (Top Songs – Radio – International).
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