Lil Nas X’s record-breaking debut single continues to make history. “Old Town Road” has been officially certified 15x-platinum by the RIAA with 15 million certified units. The musician’s breakout hit earned the official certification on Sept. 17, the same day he released his debut album Montero.
The massively successful song now stands as the highest-ranked certification in RIAA history, beating itself for the previous record when “Old Town Road” hit 14x-platinum in January. In October 2019, the country-hip-hop fusion track was named certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the first song of that year to do so. With that achievement, “Old Town Road” became the fastest song in history to reach diamond status with 10,000,000 units sold.
On the charts, the song stands as the longest-charting No. 1 in Billboard Hot 100 history lasting 19 weeks in the top spot. The record was previously held by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men’s 1995 collab “One Sweet Day,” which ranked No. 1 for 16 weeks.
“Old Town Road” was officially released in December 2018 by Lil Nas X as an independent artist, and re-released in March 2019 through Columbia Records after gaining traction. Controversy with the song’s genre and being removed from country charts resulted in a collaboration with Billy Ray Cyrus released in April 2019. The remix helped the track dominate and led to more remixes with a second from Diplo, a third featuring rapper Young Thug and Mason Ramsey, and a fourth featuring RM of the K-Pop group BTS.
Proving to not be a one hit wonder, Lil Nas X carried the momentum from “Old Town Road” to an EP titled 7 released in 2019, where the song is listed as an official track. Earning a handful of awards and achievements since, the Georgia-bred artist paved his own way to his first official album Montero, issued on Sept. 17. The album features Doja Cat, Megan Thee Stallion, Jack Harlow, Elton John, and Miley Cyrus.
Listen to “AM I DREAMING” featuring Miley Cyrus from Lil Nas X’s debut album Montero below: