Lil Nas X Hit 'Old Town Road' Video Tops 1 Billion Views

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The video for “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus hit 1 billion views on YouTube on Wednesday.

The video, which was uploaded to the platform in July 2019, is the first by either artist to reach the milestone. (A longer visual for the track, “Old Town Road (Official Movie),” is nearing 650 million views.)

The original version of “Old Town Road,” inspired by the Wild West video game Red Dead Redemption 2, was released in December 2018 as the debut single from Lil Nas X.

Cyrus was added in early 2019 and the crossover track went on to top charts around the world – including a record-setting 19-week run at No. 1 in the U.S.

The most-viewed music video on YouTube remains “Baby Shark Dance” by Pinkfong, which has topped 11 billion since it was uploaded in 2016, followed by “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi ft. Daddy Yankee, which has racked up nearly 8 billion views in its first five years.

Justin Bieber is the Canadian artist with the most YouTube views. His "Sorry" video has been watched more than 3.5 billion times – even though he does not appear in it.