Happy Birthhday Lil Nas X!
Lil Nas X Age, Rise to Stardom
Lil Nas X, born Montero Lamar Hill, graced this world on April 9, 1999. This means he is now officially 23!
A relatively new American rapper, singer, and songwriter, Lil Nas X's rise to stardom is northing short of miracle - or meteoric, at least.
The Georgia native went from being an unknown youngster to becoming a superstar vocalist in less than a year. The teen in 2019 uploaded "Old Town Road" to the independent music service platform Amuse and the range of listens and praises it received catapulted Lil Nas X to worldwide fame.
Lil Nas X Net Worth
The mean feat he achieved on the charts allowed Lil Nas X to earn an estimated $14 million before taxes. In 2020, he was already No. 18 slot on Forbes' list of the country's highest-earning celebrities.
It's not clear what his worth is now, but several outlets are reporting that he's worth $7 million, at least.
That's nothing to scoff at - especially considering how he started.
Lil Nas X is a true self-made man who began his career as a Twitter meme account before transitioning to music. Thanks to his large and loyal fan base (in addition to his natural talent), his success came quickly and relatively easily compared to other artists today. Still, no one can deny he has got it.
Old Town Road's Success and Coming Out
"Old Town Road" did not just bring Lil Nas X fame or wealth, the song has remained the longest at the top of Billboard Hot 100 since the chart's inception in 1958, too.
His country rap tune "Old Town Road," which first gained widespread exposure on the micro-platform video sharing app TikTok in early 2019 was Diamond Certified by November of that year. It's not just the song that made waves then.
Nas X came out as gay in June of 2019 as well, making him the first and only musician in history to do so while also having a number-one single. Two MTV Video Music Awards, including Song of the Year, and an American Music Award for Favorite Rap/Hip Hop Song were bestowed to him for this song.
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Nas X is the first and only openly LGBTQ musician to be nominated for a Country Music Association award. He received two Grammy Awards, for Best Music Video and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, and was nominated for six more, the most that any male musician got in 2019. He was also nominated for six other Grammy Awards, the most of any male in 2019. TIME magazine included him on their first-ever TIME 100 Next list.
Songs Other Than "Old Town Road"
"Panini," the second song off his debut EP 7, which was released in June 2019, peaked at number five on the Hot 100 and number three on Rolling Stone's Top 100, was released in June 2019.
A third single, "Rodeo," featuring Cardi B peaked at number nine on the Rolling Stone Top 100 singles chart in 2017. As of September 2019, his tracks had been streamed more than 2.3 billion times worldwide.
This year, people have been singing to his "Industry Baby," and "That's What I Want" among others.
Controversies
Given his youth and his achievements, Lil Nas X is a rapper who is no stranger to creating headlines. Most recently, he triggered the ire of American conservative TV personality Greg Kelly. The latter touts himself as a "Anti-Fake News Conservative Phenomenon" so its a big deal that the musician provoked some strong feelings from him.
Kelly took to Twitter on April 4 to express his displeasure with a photo of Lil Nas X appearing at the recent Grammy Awards performance in 2022 - an event that sparked controversy of its own by omitting Joey Jordison from the In Memoriam part during the show. But for some reason, Lil Nas X's three-song medley was enough to enrage Kelly. It appears that Kelly thinks Lil Nas' performance screams lewdness.
"'Lil NAS has a BIG PROBLEM (And so does America)--knock yourself out NAS. You're a little FOOL with zero talent!!!!"
Lil Nas was quick to reply with humor though.
Nas hit back with, "damn greg all i did was wear a crop top this time." Kelly responded by saying that it was "not the shirt" that made him all bothered, but rather the "public lewdness" of the performance.
While many people, including Lil Nas X himself, were quick to dismiss Kelly's outrage, one unexpected defender of the rapper appeared on the scene in the form of Disturbed frontman David Draiman, who pointed out the hypocrisy of many right wing commentators when it comes to feigning outrage at Lil Nas X's performances.
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