• April 9, 1999
• Lil Nas X was born Montero Lamar Hill in Lithia Springs, near Atlanta, Georgia. His mother named him after the Mitsubishi Montero because she wanted the car but never got one.
• The first gay mainstream rapper, Lil Nas X struggled to come to terms with his sexuality throughout his teens. An ardent Nicki Minaj fan, he found solace in running the @NasMaraj fan account on Twitter.
• When he was still known as Montero Hill, Nas enrolled at the University of West Georgia, where he majored in computer science, but dropped out after a year so he could concentrate on his music. The young rapper slept on his sister's couch and supported himself working as a cashier at Zaxby's chicken chain and as an attendant at the Six Flags Over Georgia theme park.
• When Montero Hill started writing and recording songs, he adopted the name Lil Nas X in tribute to the rapper Nas. "When I started doing music, I was like, 'I want to have fun with this," he told Jimmy Fallon on the Tonight Show. "And every new rapper's name is Lil, Lil, Lil. 'What if I was Lil Nas? That'd be funny.' So I was like, 'Alright, bet. I'll be Lil Nas.' And I added the X later on."
• He self-released a debut mixtape called Nasarati in July 2018. Nas X subsequently admitted to The Guardian the record was "just me acting really hard... because it felt like that's what I had to do."
• A few months later, Lil Nas came across a beat on YouTube by a Dutch teenager named YoungKio, which he bought for $30. The rapper penned some lyrics, which he described to Genius as having a "loner cowboy kind of vibe." He titled his country-trap hybrid "Old Town Road." The song blew up as a result of memes on TikTok, becoming his breakthrough hit.
• "Old Town Road" spent 19 weeks at #1 on the Hot 100, breaking the record for the longest run at the top of the tally.
• In June 2019, Nas X publicly came out as gay, the first artist to do so while having a #1 record.
• Since coming out, Lil Nas has been a LGBTQ trailblazer, incorporating gay themes in his songs and videos. By cultivating an image as a hedonistic and flamboyant gay rapper, his aim is to "open doors for many other queer people to simply exist."
• Lil Nas X attended the same high school in Georgia as Brockhampton founding member Kevin Abstract, though they didn't know each other at the time.

Comments

More Songfacts:

My Ding-a-LingChuck Berry

Chuck Berry's only #1 hit was "My Ding-a-Ling," a novelty song about a boy and his... you know.

All The Young DudesMott the Hoople

All The Young Dudes "carry the news" because it was intended for a David Bowie concept album where Ziggy Stardust spreads the news in a world with electricity.

What's Love Got To Do With ItTina Turner

Tina Turner hated "What's Love Got To Do With It" but when her manager convinced her to record it anyway, it became her big comeback hit.

If I Ain't Got YouAlicia Keys

Alicia Keys wrote "If I Ain't Got You" just after she'd heard the news that Aaliyah had passed away. in a plane crash.

CreepRadiohead

One of the moodiest hits of the '90s is "Creep" by Radiohead. It was the group's first single, and to their dismay, it became their biggest hit - it wasn't the song they wanted to be known for.

Cat's In The CradleHarry Chapin

Harry Chapin's wife Sandy wrote the lyrics to "Cat's In The Cradle," which were actually about her first husband.

Editor's Picks

QueenFact or Fiction

Scaramouch, a hoople and a superhero soundtrack - see if you can spot the real Queen stories.

Martyn Ware of Heaven 17Songwriter Interviews

Martyn talks about producing Tina Turner, some Heaven 17 hits, and his work with the British Electric Foundation.

Amy GrantSongwriter Interviews

The top Contemporary Christian artist of all time on song inspirations and what she learned from Johnny Carson.

Leslie West of MountainSongwriter Interviews

From the cowbell on "Mississippi Queen" to recording with The Who when they got the wrong Felix, stories from one of rock's master craftsmen.

Pete AndersonSongwriter Interviews

Pete produced Dwight Yoakam, Michelle Shocked, Meat Puppets, and a very memorable track for Roy Orbison.

Female Singers Of The 90sMusic Quiz

The ladies who ruled the '90s in this quiz.