Mariah Carey Passes Torch To Lil Nas X

(CNN) -- Mariah Carey probably figured that "One Sweet Day," an artist would break her record, and it has happened.

Lil Nas X now has the longest-running No. 1 single ever on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The country rapper's "Old Town Road," featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, has maintained the top spot for the 17th consecutive week, beating out former record-holders "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, featuring Justin Bieber, from 2017, and "One Sweet Day" by Carey and Boyz II Men in 1995-96.

Carey posted her congratulations with an edited photo showing her passing a torch to the rapper.

"Sending love & congrats to @lilnasx on breaking one of the longest running records in music history!" reads the caption of the image posted to her official Instagram account. "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! "

"Old Town Road" initially went viral on the TikTok app, where users create and share video clips set to music. The song garnered even more attention after Billboard pulled it from the country charts.

"Upon further review, it was determined that 'Old Town Road' by Lil Nas X does not currently merit inclusion on Billboard's country charts," Billboard said in a statement in March to Rolling Stone. "When determining genres, a few factors are examined, but first and foremost is musical composition. While 'Old Town Road' incorporates references to country and cowboy imagery, it does not embrace enough elements of today's country music to chart in its current version."

That caused an uproar and cries of racism, which Billboard denied.

There was plenty of support for "Old Town Road," including from Cyrus, who hopped on a remix of the song.

Lil Nas X also released a remix of that remix featuring hip-hop artists Young Thug and Mason Ramsey, as well as another remix with RM, of the astronomically successful K-pop band BTS, titled "Seoul Town Road."

In addition to showing Lil Nas X some love, Carey also paid homage to her hit single in her Instagram posting.

"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," she wrote.

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