"Old Town Road" Might Become the Longest Ruling #1 Single of All Time

A novelty song about "bull ridin’ and boobies" could unseat both Mariah Carey and Ed Sheeran.

Overnight, ARIA revealed Lil Nas X has maintained his position at the top of the Australian Singles Chart for twelve consecutive weeks with "Old Town Road".

It now equals the chart dominance of Eminem’s "Lose Yourself" and Pharrell Williams’ "Happy", which, you may remember, were kind of big deals.

If "Old Town Road" can stay up there for another week, it will become the second-longest #1 single in Australian history, tying with Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee’s "Despacito" and Coolio’s "Gangsta’s Paradise".

The current title holder is Ed Sheeran’s "Shape of You", which spent 15 weeks at the summit in 2017.

However, if Lil Nas X can keep dropping remixes—and he is teasing a team-up with Mariah Carey—there’s no reason he can’t eventually take down Ed.

Failing that, he can just keep visiting schools to perform the song live, and melt all our damn hearts over and over again.

Over in the United States, "Despacito" and the Mariah/Boyz II Men duet "One Sweet Day" are the longest reigning #1 singles on the Billboard charts, at 16 weeks each. As of this writing, "Old Town Road" is in third position, at 14 weeks. And though that may not equal raw sales (especially when comparing the hits of the streaming era with those from the days in which you had to purchase actual singles, like "Gangsta’s Paradise" and "One Sweet Day") the feat is mighty impressive.

You better believe Lil Nas X is gonna ride to the top of the charts 'til he can’t no more.