Lil Nas X’s ‘Old Town Road’ remix featuring Billy Ray Cyrus has officially been certified diamond, making it the first song released in 2019 to do so.
On Tuesday (October 22), the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced that ‘Old Town Road’ had finally reached diamond status. ‘Old Town Road’ has also become the fastest song in history to go diamond, Billboard reported.
Following the news, Lil Nas took to Twitter to celebrate the milestone. “OLD TOWN ROAD IS OFFICIALLY DIAMOND!! ?????” he tweeted earlier today (October 23). He also tweeted a Spongebob meme in reference to an earlier promise he had jokingly made once the song reached diamond status.
https://twitter.com/LilNasX/status/1186809684906401792
https://t.co/fLFgzawyty pic.twitter.com/Dr5PCErzPD
— nope (@LilNasX) October 23, 2019
Other artists who have achieved diamond status include Justin Bieber (‘Baby’), Elton John (‘Candle In The Wind’), Carly Rae Jepsen (‘Call Me Maybe’), Imagine Dragons (‘Radioactive’), Lady Gaga (‘Poker Face’, ‘Bad Romance’) and Florida Georgia Line (‘Cruise’).
‘Old Town Road’ was first released in December 2018 but later went viral on TikTok, and was further boosted after Cyrus contributed his guest verse. In July, their chart-topping country trap crossover broke the record for the longest-running US Number One in history. The song’s 19-week streak concluded after Billie Eilish’s ‘Bad Guy’ knocked it off the top spot.
Last month, Lil Nas confirmed that he was taking a break from music, explaining that his life had become “wild” after ‘Old Town Road’ propelled him to worldwide fame. He is currently working on his debut studio album, though he says he plans to record “at least 70 songs” before presenting it to the world.