Oliver Anthony, the country music artist who went viral after his working-class lament “Rich Men North of Richmond” sailed to the top of the charts, said he has rejected $8 million offers from music industry executives and that he’s just a regular guy who doesn’t want to be in the spotlight.
Mr. Anthony’s “Aint Gotta Dollar” is currently at number 3, “Ive Got to Get Sober” is at number 7, and “I Want to Go Home” is at number 8.
But it’s his hit “Rich Men North of Richmond” (still perched at the top of the charts) that took the internet by storm and catapulted him to prominence.
With verses like “I’ve been sellin‘ my soul, workin’ all day, overtime hours for [expletive] pay,” the song laments the pitfalls of modernity and lifts the lid on the gritty and thankless lives of everyday Americans who rarely brush elbows with Washington elites.
In the song, which has won widespread praise among conservatives, Mr. Anthony takes aim at trends affecting the lives of many Americans, like the rise of the surveillance state, debasement of the dollar, high taxes, and cancel culture.
In his message on Facebook, he lamented the way the internet “has divided all of us,” expressed sadness at the state of the world (“with everyone fighting with each other”), and decried America’s decline.
‘Don’t Want to Be in The Spotlight’
In his post, the Virginia musician described himself in modest terms, saying he’s just “some idiot and his guitar” who never dreamed of becoming famous.“Draven from RadioWv and I filmed these tunes on my land with the hope that it may hit 300k views. I still don’t quite believe what has went on since we uploaded that. It’s just strange to me,” he wrote.
But given the attention that his chart-topping tune “Rich Men North of Richmond” received from conservative influencers on social media, it’s perhaps not that odd that he rose to prominence so quickly and forcefully.
“The most famous musicians on earth often never achieve this,” Mr. Johnson wrote.
But Mr. Anthony insisted he’s just a regular working-class guy who has suffered from mental health issues and just wanted to express his feelings—and that he has turned down lucrative offers that could push him towards fortune and even more fame.
“People in the music industry give me blank stares when I brush off 8 million dollar offers. I don’t want 6 tour buses, 15 tractor trailers and a jet. I don’t want to play stadium shows, I don’t want to be in the spotlight,” he said in his message.
“I wrote the music I wrote because I was suffering with mental health and depression. These songs have connected with millions of people on such a deep level because they’re being sung by someone feeling the words in the very moment they were being sung. No editing, no agent, no [expletive]. Just some idiot and his guitar. The style of music that we should have never gotten away from in the first place,” he wrote.
In his message, Mr. Anthony revealed that, until recently, he'd been working an ordinary sales job in the industrial manufacturing sector and, over the course of about a decade, he has gotten to know tens of thousands of blue-collar workers on job sites and in factories.
‘Don’t Let Them Take It Away’
Some saw in Mr. Anthony’s song a populist backlash to agendas pushed by establishment politicians and power elites.In his post on Facebook, Mr. Anthony struck a modest note when talking about himself and his personal goals, though he did express lofty sentiments.
“There’s nothing special about me. I’m not a good musician, I’m not a very good person. I’ve spent the last 5 years struggling with mental health and using alcohol to drown it,” he wrote.
“I am sad to see the world in the state it’s in, with everyone fighting with each other. I have spent many nights feeling hopeless, that the greatest country on Earth is quickly fading away,” he continued.
Decrying the time wasted and goals forgotten as people sit alone in their homes distracted from real life by social media, Mr. Anthony said he hopes they'll wake up before it’s too late.
“When is enough, enough? When are we going to fight for what is right again? MILLIONS have died protecting the liberties we have,” he wrote.
“Freedom of speech is such a precious gift. Never in world history has the world had the freedom it currently does. Don’t let them take it away from you,” he continued.
“Just like those once wandering in the desert, we have lost our way from God and have let false idols distract us and divide us.”
“It’s a damn shame,” he wrote at the end of his post, citing his own lyrics from “Rich Men North of Richmond.”
The full lyrics to the song “Rich Men North of Richmond” are:
