Mariah Carey congratulates Lil Nas X for breaking her Billboard chart record
Mariah Carey's longstanding chart record has just been broken and the singer couldn't have been more gracious.
The diva took to social media Monday to send a message of congratulations to rapper Lil Nas X, whose viral hit "Old Town Road" remix with country singer Billy Ray Cyrus scored its 17th week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
That's one week more than Carey's "One Sweet Day," a tune she co-wrote and sang with R&B group Boyz II Men that notched 16 weeks at No. 1 between 1995 and 1996.
"Sending love & 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!" she said in the post, which also contained a heart emoji and features a picture of her handing a torch to an image of X in front of Billboard's logo.
Carey followed up with another post, adding, "Thank you for acknowledging this song One Sweet Day will always hold a special place in my heart and I want to thank anyone who's ever told me how this song has affected them and their loved ones."
Since 2017, "One Sweet Day's" record had been tied with Latin singer Luis Fonsi and Latin rapper Daddy Yankee's hit "Despacito," which really took off in the English-speaking music market when Justin Bieber sang on a remix.
"Despacito's" chance at breaking the record was halted by Taylor Swift's "Look What You Made Me Do."
As of this writing, Boyz II Men, Fonsi and Daddy Yankee have yet to respond to the news, but Bieber had a brief message for X.
Carey can likely feel comfortable with her chart laurels. In 2005, she nearly replicated her 16-week run atop the Billboard Hot 100 with "We Belong Together," which spent 14 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 -- interrupted by then-"American Idol" winner Carrie Underwood's "Inside Your Heaven" -- and she is the only artist to reach the peak of the Hot 100 every year during the 1990s.
