Lil Nas X's 'Old Town Road' Is Officially The No. 1 Song In The Gosh-Darn Country

Lil Nas X's career so far has been a Western film of cowboys and steeds. It's one of these bronco-buster romps where the spurs-wearing hero gets double-crossed, left for dead, then, ultimately, makes a triumphant return in a hail of revolver smoke and fresh cigarettes. Lil Nas X's is smiling in the town saloon as cheers fill the air around him. Today (April 9), on his birthday, his viral nation anthem, "Old Town Road," has officially become the hugest song in America.


The rising nation star reported the news that his song had topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart early Tuesday morning with an eas tweet: "hitting #1 on billboard on my birthday wow," he wrote. Having the final seal of approval that you're the creator of the largest song in the nation has to be one of the primary birthday gifts that you could receive — especially given the fraught path the song traced on its way to the top.


Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road," a tumbleweed-blowing, horse-rearing anthem, went viral on Tik-Tok before climbing Billboard's Hot Nation Songs chart and peaking at No. 19 last month. However Billboard removed the young artist's song from the chart because it didn't “embrace enough elements of today’s nation music."


"Old Town Road" grew immensely thanks to streaming, virality, plus a cosign from the legendary Billy Ray Cyrus, who welcomed Lil Nas X into nation music's community. Cyrus even hopped on the official remix to the song last week and gave it a yeehawthentic country presence. Right now, Lil Nas X is in an even bigger spot than he was before being removed from the chart. If this was a film script, Quentin Tarantino would have penned it. Relive all of the magic below.