Lil Nas X’s Montero (Call Me By Your Name) hits number one in Saudi Arabia, where gay sex is illegal

Lil Nas X has topped the Apple Music charts in Saudi Arabia, where gay sex is illegal.

The rapper’s latest track Montero (Call Me By Your Name) has hit number one around the world, and made waves due to its unapologetically queer video, which sees him acting out sexual positions with Satan and pole-dancing in hell.

Saudi Arabia has one of the worst records for LGBTQ+ rights, with Sunni Islamic Sharia law prohibiting same-sex sexual activity and punishing acts of homosexuality with fines, prison time and capital punishment.

However, Lil Nas X – who is openly gay – is a hit in the country, and Montero has hit number one on the Apple Music chart in Saudi Arabia, as well as number one on the Shazam chart and number three on the Spotify chart.

Celebrating the news, the 22-year-old tweeted: ‘WE NUMBER 1 IN SAUDI ARABIA WTF LETS GOOOO.’

This achievement comes as Montero also hit number one on the Billboard Global 200.

The chart ranks the world’s top tracks based on data from more than 200 territories and on Monday, Montero knocked Justin Bieber’s Peaches off the top spot with more than 109.3 million streams.

Montero has also reached number one in the UK, the US, Ireland, Canada, France, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Norway and Slovakia, marking the rapper’s biggest hit since the 2019 smash Old Town Road.

Lil Nas X penned the track about a man he met in mid-2020 during lockdown, and in a note to his 14-year-old self shared to mark the song’s release, he explained how important it was to live his truth.

He wrote: ‘Dear 14 year old Montero, I wrote a song with our name in it. It’s about a guy I met last summer. I know we promised to never come out publicly, I know we promised to never be “that” type of gay person, I know we promised to die with the secret, but this will open doors for many other queer people to simply exist.

‘You see this is very scary for me, people will be angry, they will say I’m pushing an agenda. But the truth is, I am. The agenda to make people stay the f*** out of people’s lives and stop dictating who they should be.

‘Sending you love from the future.’

In June 2019, while at number one, Lil Nas X came out publicly as gay, later joking that he thought he ‘made it obvious’.

The star has been praised for coming out and being a role model to young people, although has also been hit with a lot of backlash from the hip-hop community, which has drawn attention to homophobia in the culture.

Speaking to the Guardian about his sexuality, Lil Nas X said: ‘The honest truth is, I planned to die with the secret. But that changed when I became Lil Nas X.

‘I 100% want to represent the LGBT community.’

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