Rapper-singer Lil Nas X will take his Number One hit Old Town Road to Stagecoach Festival this weekend for the songs first public performance.
According to Billboard, the Atlanta-based Lil Nas X will be joined by his unlikely collaborator Billy Ray Cyrus, whose presence on the Old Town Road remix helped propel it to the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (netting Cyrus his first Hot 100 Number One in the process). The country-focused Stagecoach Festival, held in Indio, California, on the same spot where Coachella takes place, gets under way Friday, April 26th, and runs through Sunday, April 28th. Headlining performers this year include Luke Bryan, Sam Hunt and Jason Aldean.
Since its inception, Stagecoach has earned a reputation for eclectic lineups that mix mainstream country stars with underground favorites, legacy stars and Americana heroes. On this years bill, rising mainstream names like Luke Combs and Kane Brown share space with singer-songwriter Becca Mancari, outlaw throwback Whitey Morgan and even Welsh belter Tom Jones. Along with Lil Nas Xs groundbreaking debut performance, Stagecoach 2019 will launch Stagecoach Late Night, featuring the festival debut of Diplo on the Palomino stage. The electronic producer, whose work includes Major Lazer and Silk City, revealed his new Thomas Wesley country project on Wednesday and released the first single So Long, a new collaboration with Cam.
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Lil Nas X sparked a chart controversy in March, when Old Town Road bowed on Billboards Hot Country Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop at the same time. It was subsequently pulled from the country chart because, according to a Billboard representative, it does not embrace enough elements of todays country music to chart in its current version. But with its banjo-driven melody and cowboy-themed lyrics, its breakout viral form was at least in the neighborhood. With the controversy unfolding and Cyrus hopping on the remix, the song began staking its claim as a legitimately massive, across-the-board hit.
As of this week, Old Town Road hasnt been added back to the Hot Country Songs chart. But on the terrestrial radio-monitoring Country Airplay chart, it re-entered at Number 50, with 30 country stations onboard.