Lil Nas X's 'Old Town Road,' Featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, Spends Second Week at No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100 With Record-Shattering Streams
4/15/2019 by Gary Trust
Plus, Khalid hits the top 10 with "Better."
Lil Nas X logs a second week atop the Billboard Hot 100 as "Old Town Road," now featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, who joined for a remix released April 5, reigns with a record-blasting streaming week.
The track leads the Streaming Songs chart for a second frame with 143 million U.S. streams in the week ending April 11, according to Nielsen Music. The sum easily surpasses the prior mark, set when Drake's "In My Feelings" drew 116.2 million streams, as reflected on the chart dated July 28, 2018. (Both the remix and original version of "Road" count toward the song's singular chart placement.)
Meanwhile, Khalid collects his fourth Hot 100 top 10, as "Better" bounds 16-8 as his new album Free Spirit arrives as his first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Let's run down the top 10 of the newest Hot 100 (dated April 20), which blends all-genre U.S. streaming, radio airplay and digital sales data. All charts will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (April 16).
Record streams: "Road" rockets by 207%, from 46.6 million U.S. streams to 143 million, shattering the record for the most in a week. Here's an updated look at the biggest streaming weeks:
Total Weekly U.S. Streams, Title, Artist, Chart Date
143 million, "Old Town Road," Lil Nas X feat. Billy Ray Cyrus, April 20, 2019
116.2 million, "In My Feelings," Drake, July 28, 2018
106.2 million, "In My Feelings," Drake, Aug. 4, 2018
103.1 million, "Harlem Shake," Baauer, March 2, 2013
101.7 million, "God's Plan," Drake, March 3, 2018
97.6 million, "Harlem Shake," Baauer, March 9, 2013
95.4 million, "In My Feelings," Drake, Aug. 11, 2018
93.8 million, "Thank U, Next," Ariana Grande, Dec. 15, 2018
92.8 million, "God's Plan," Drake, March 10, 2018
92.7 million, "In My Feelings," Drake, Aug. 18, 2018
Best sales week in over a year: "Road" also roars by 454% to 124,000 downloads sold in the week ending April 11, as it tops Digital Song Sales for the first time. That's the biggest weekly total since Drake's "God's Plan" debuted with 127,000 sold (Feb. 3, 2018).
Airplay advances: "Road" additionally surges in radio airplay, entering the all-genre Radio Songs chart at No. 33, up 142% to 28.8 million audience impressions in the week ending April 14. As for individual formats, the track charges 23-15 on Rhythmic Songs and 30-21 on Pop Songs and debuts at No. 28 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop. (It departs Country Airplay after a week at No. 53, when its reach at the format was powered largely by syndicated morning show plays; all four charts are based purely on airplay on reporters to each respective panel.)
"Road" sweeps the Hot 100's top Streaming, Sales and Airplay Gainer awards, marking the first title to triple up with all three honors since Ariana Grande's "Thank U, Next," after the release of its official video, atop the chart dated Dec. 15, 2018.
Billy Ray No. 1 … after Miley: Billy Ray Cyrus came in like a wrecking ball, too.
Now credited on "Road," as streaming and sales for the week were driven most heavily by the new Cyrus remix, he scores his first Hot 100 No. 1. The country chart veteran bests his prior No. 4 Hot 100 peak, set by his debut smash "Achy Breaky Heart" in July 1992. Four months later … daughter Miley was born, and now her father has his first Hot 100 No. 1 … after Miley reigned. Her "Wrecking Ball" swung to No. 1 for three weeks beginning Sept. 28, 2013.
Notably, over half a century ago, a famous father also earned his first Hot 100 No. 1 after his daughter first led the list; Nancy Sinatra topped the chart for a week in February 1966 with "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'." Over a year later, beginning in April 1967, she and father Frank led with their duet "Somethin' Stupid," his only Hot 100 No. 1; of course, his career predated the Hot 100's Aug. 4, 1958, launch, with the iconic crooner claiming credit at No. 1 on Billboard's first chart ranking the national sales of recorded songs, dated July 27, 1940.
Cyrus makes his first appearance on a Billboard songs chart since his featured turn on Buck 22's "Achy Breaky 2," a reworking of "Achy Breaky Heart," which hit No. 11 on Hot Rap Songs and No. 80 on the Hot 100 in March 2014.
No. 1 hip-hop & rap: "Road" concurrently posts a second week at No. 1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts.
Post Malone and Swae Lee's former one-week Hot 100 leader "Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)" is steady at No. 2, while Post Malone's solo single "Wow." rebounds 4-3 following its No. 2 peak.
Grande's "7 Rings" slips 3-4 on the Hot 100 after eight weeks at No. 1, while topping Radio Songs for a second week (82 million, down 8%); Halsey's former two-week Hot 100 No. 1 "Without Me" holds at No. 5; Jonas Brothers' "Sucker," which soared in as their first No. 1 on the March 16-dated Hot 100, rises 8-6; and Cardi B and Bruno Mars' "Please Me" dips 6-7 after reaching No. 3.
Khalid vaults 16-8 on the Hot 100 with "Better," which becomes his fourth top 10 on the chart, and first as a sole lead artist. He previously reached the region as featured, with Alessia Cara, on Logic's "1-800-273-8255" (No. 3, September 2017) and with "Love Lies," with Normani (No. 9, September 2018) and "Eastside," with Benny Blanco and Halsey (No. 9, this January).
Fueled most heavily by streaming, "Better" blasts 46-9 on Streaming Songs (24.8 million, up 36%), becoming Khalid's first top 10 on the chart as a lead artist, and second overall, after "1-800-273-8255" hit No. 3. "Better" is from his new album Free Spirit, which launches atop the Billboard 200 with 202,000 equivalent album units.
In its 30th week on the Hot 100, "Better" is one of just seven singles in the chart's history to take at least that long to reach the top 10, as it completes the most measured climb to the region since Imagine Dragons' "Radioactive" (31 weeks) in April 2013; Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats" holds the longevity record, having wrapped a 38-week rise to the top 10 in June 2007.
Rounding out the Hot 100's top 10, J. Cole's No. 4-peaking "Middle Child" moves 10-9, swapping spots with Marshmello and Bastille's No. 2 hit "Happier" (9-10), which rules the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart for a 30th week.
Find out more Hot 100 news on Billboard.com this week, and, for all chart news, you can listen (and subscribe) to Billboard's Chart Beat Podcast and Pop Shop Podcast and follow
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