Old Town Road: Lil Nas X Hit Song History & Controversy

Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” became the longest-running chart-topper in U.S. history in December 2018—and it did so as an independent SoundCloud release before any major label got involved. What followed was a wild ride through viral memes, genre gatekeeping, and a remix that brought Billy Ray Cyrus into the mix.

Original Release Date: December 2018 · Lead Artist: Lil Nas X · Remix Feature: Billy Ray Cyrus · Billboard Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for 19 weeks · Genre Controversy: Removed from country charts

The table below summarizes the key details about the track’s release and chart performance.

Who had a 2019 hit with the song “Old Town Road”?

Lil Nas X (born Montero Lamar Hill) is the artist behind one of the most unexpected chart phenomena in modern music history. The song marked his debut mainstream single, released independently in December 2018 before any major label involvement.

At the time of recording, Lil Nas X had been living with his sister after dropping out of college. He felt like he was “out of options,” and his family’s frustrations inspired the defiant chorus, “can’t nobody tell me nothing” (Wikipedia). Within a month of writing the song, he reframed its meaning so that the “old town road” would represent personal success rather than literal cowboy imagery.

Lil Nas X debut single

Lil Nas X released the track on SoundCloud on December 2, 2018, under the full title “Old Town Road (I Got the Horses in the Back).” The instrumental was composed by Dutch producer YoungKio, who sold it online for $30—Lil Nas X purchased it and built his vocals on top (Wikipedia).

Independent release details

The song’s origins are rooted in internet culture. Lil Nas X had been experimenting with viral content creation before the song dropped, which gave him an audience primed to amplify the track once it started gaining traction. The production quality and brevity—1 minute and 53 seconds—actually contributed to its shareability.

Does Billy Ray Cyrus sing Old Town Road?

Yes—Billy Ray Cyrus appears on the most famous version of the track. His feature on the remix, released April 5, 2019, transformed the song from an internet curiosity into a mainstream juggernaut that dominated the summer of 2019.

Remix collaboration

The collaboration story has an interesting backstory. Country singer Jake Owen was originally approached to co-write and record the first remix of “Old Town Road,” but that partnership never materialized (Wikipedia). Lil Nas X had already expressed on Twitter in December 2018 that he wanted Billy Ray Cyrus on the song, citing his role on “Hannah Montana” as his connection to the artist.

When the remix dropped, Billy Ray Cyrus showed public support for Lil Nas X after Billboard removed the song from the country chart, noting that the removal placed Lil Nas X “in the ranks of great outlaws” (Wikipedia). Cyrus connected the “old town road” to the Old Town Bridge in Argillite, Kentucky, that he used to play on as a child.

Impact on chart success

The remix’s chart impact was immediate and massive. In the week following its release, “Old Town Road” and the remix received a combined 143 million streams, surpassing Drake’s “In My Feelings” (116.2 million streams in the same period the previous year) (Wikipedia). The remix also achieved a record 19-week run at number one on the Canadian Hot 100.

Why did Old Town Road get so popular?

The song’s popularity wasn’t organic in the traditional sense—it was engineered for the internet era. Lil Nas X understood meme culture intimately, and that understanding shaped every element of the song’s rollout.

TikTok and meme virality

The track became popular on TikTok, which propelled the country-trap song to mainstream success on U.S. charts (Esquire). The “Yeehaw Challenge”—where users edited themselves wearing cowboy hats while the song played—spread across the platform in March 2019, creating a viral feedback loop.

The brevity of the track (1:53) made it perfect for looping and sharing. Users could consume it multiple times in minutes, and the catchiness of the chorus (“Old Town Road”) made it impossible to forget.

Internet takeover factors

Beyond TikTok, the song’s presence on YouTube and social media created multiple entry points for new listeners. The initial music video accumulated over 23 million views, and the meme potential extended far beyond official content (Esquire).

Why was Old Town Road removed from country charts?

Billboard made the controversial decision to remove “Old Town Road” from the Hot Country Songs chart despite the track having charted on that list. The move sparked immediate backlash and raised questions about genre classification in streaming-era music.

Billboard decision

The official statement from Billboard read: “While Old Town Road incorporates references to country and cowboy imagery, it does not embrace enough elements of today’s country music to chart in its current version” (Esquire). Lil Nas X responded that he was “extremely disappointed” by the decision (Wikipedia).

The remix (with Billy Ray Cyrus) eventually peaked at number 50 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart—a modest showing that suggests the classification rules weren’t bending for the collaboration (Wikipedia). Sony Music Nashville CEO Randy Goodman had told Billboard that his team had started testing the song in some country radio markets, indicating industry interest in the track.

Genre authenticity debate

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 (Wikipedia). Music journalist Robert Christgau offered a starkly different perspective: “Taking Old Town Road off the country chart strikes me as racist pure and simple, because country radio remains racist regardless of the Darius Ruckers and Kane Browns it makes room for” (Wikipedia).

Why is the song “Old Town Road” considered to be controversial?

The controversy extended far beyond chart methodology. At stake was a fundamental question about genre gatekeeping: who gets to define what counts as country music, and what assumptions shape those definitions.

Race and genre issues

When asked about racial undertones in Billboard’s decision, Lil Nas X replied: “I believe whenever you’re trying something new, it’s always going to get some kind of bad reception” (Wikipedia). This response sidestepped the direct accusation while acknowledging the friction his innovation had created.

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 (Wikipedia). Its success proved there was massive audience appetite for this hybrid—but that appetite hadn’t been reflected in industry infrastructure.

Broader industry problems

Diplo, who remixed the track for Stagecoach Festival, offered his own take at the 2019 event: “Let me tell you, [Old Town Road is] a country song” (Wikipedia). His perspective from inside the Nashville ecosystem highlighted the disconnect between official classification and artist intuition.

Chart analysts indicated the song would have likely hit number one on the country chart if it hadn’t been removed (Esquire). The controversy arguably boosted the song’s profile by turning the chart removal into a news story.

Timeline

Six months, one viral phenomenon, and several remixes—here’s how the saga unfolded:

The timeline below captures the key milestones from the song’s indie debut through its record-setting chart run.

The pattern shows how strategic remix releases kept the song cycling through mainstream consciousness and extending its chart dominance.

The original version reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the week ending April 13, 2019—just days after the remix dropped. The track’s 1:53 runtime made it the shortest number-one single since “I’m Henry VIII, I Am” by Herman’s Hermits in 1965 (Wikipedia).

What experts said

The controversy generated significant commentary from industry voices:

Taking Old Town Road off the country chart strikes me as racist pure and simple, because country radio remains racist regardless of the Darius Ruckers and Kane Browns it makes room for.

— Robert Christgau, music journalist (Wikipedia)

While Old Town Road incorporates references to country and cowboy imagery, it does not embrace enough elements of today’s country music to chart in its current version.

— Billboard statement (Esquire)

Let me tell you, [Old Town Road is] a country song.

— Diplo, at Stagecoach Festival 2019 (Wikipedia)

The remix won Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Best Music Video at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, with the track itself nominated for Record of the Year (Wikipedia). Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus performed together at the BET Awards in June 2019, and again at the Grammys in January 2020 alongside Diplo, BTS, and Mason Ramsey.

Legacy and takeaway

For streaming-era artists, the “Old Town Road” playbook is clear: build for shareability, embrace genre ambiguity as a feature rather than a bug, and let remix strategy do the work of expanding your audience. The controversy around genre classification may have faded, but the precedent it set—that audiences will follow great songs regardless of genre labels—remains.

The song was certified diamond by the RIAA in October 2019 for selling 10 million total units in the United States, becoming the fastest song ever to reach that milestone (Wikipedia). A limited edition 7-inch vinyl single went on sale May 1, 2019, with the remix on the A-side and the original on the B-side.

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Lil Nas X’s genre-defying Old Town Road catapulted him to stardom, where he later channeled that boldness into his Met Gala outfits from shimmering cat suits to silver body art.

Frequently asked questions