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Mariah Carey and Justin Bieber congratulate Lil Nas X as Old Town Road breaks chart record

Carey and Boyz II Men had previously held the title of ‘longest-running number one’ in US chart history

Adam White
Tuesday 30 July 2019 09:42 BST
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Miley Cyrus is joined by Billy Ray Cyrus and Lil Nas X to play 'Old Town Road' at Glastonbury 2019

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Mariah Carey has congratulated Lil Nas X on beating her record for holding the longest-running number one in US chart history with his track ‘Old Town Road’.

Alongside a hilariously wonky Photoshopped image of Carey passing a torch to the 20 year-old rapper, the singer-songwriter wrote: “Sending love and congrats to @LilNasX on breaking one of the longest running records in music history! We’ve been blessed to hold this record with a song that means a great deal to @BoyzIIMen and myself and has touched so many. Keep living your best life!”

Carey had previously held the record with her 1995 collaboration with Boyz II Men, ‘One Sweet Day’, which held the top spot on the US Billboard chart for 16 weeks. It was a record somewhat broken in 2016 by Daddy Yankee, Luis Fonsi and Justin Bieber’s ‘Despacito’, which also managed 16 weeks at the top, before ‘Old Town Road’ toppled both this week.

In response to Carey’s message, Lil Nas X expressed his gratitude. “Thank you so much Mariah!” he tweeted. “You are a legend and an icon and I’m blessed to even have you acknowledging me right now! Growing up [on] your music and now having you talk to me directly is unreal!”

Bieber also joined the celebrations, tweeting a simple “Congratulations” at Lil Nas X. Billy Ray Cyrus, who collaborated on ‘Old Town Road’ with the rapper, tweeted: “Congratulations my friend @LilNasX, you sir are what ya call a ‘game changer’. Love ya man. You are a light.”

Lil Nas X, meanwhile, has teased that he may now be retiring ‘Old Town Road’ and its many, many remixes, tweeting that he will now focus on ‘Panini’, his second single.

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