Everything You Need To Know About “Rich Men North Of Richmond” Singer Oliver Anthony
Virginia native Oliver Anthony became an instant sensation after a video of him singing his original song “Rich Men North of Richmond” went viral. The former factory worker turned country singer has been writing his own music since 2021.
Anthony uploaded his first performance video on YouTube in 2020. In it, he sings Tyler Childers’ “Lady May.” Since then, he’s continued to share a mix of covers and originals on his YouTube channel. Anthony also posts videos of his life in Farmville, Virginia with his three dogs.
What’s The Meaning Behind “Rich Men North Of Richmond” By Oliver Anthony?
Then, on August 8, the YouTube channel radiowv posted a video of Anthony performing an original song, titled “Rich Men North of Richmond.”
The description under the video reads:
“When I first came across Oliver Anthony and his music, I was blown away to say the least. He had a whole collection of songs that I could listen to for hours. Oliver resides in Farmville, VA with his 3 dogs and a plot of land he plans on turning into a small farm to raise livestock. We have a whole mess of songs set to release of Oliver for your viewing and listening pleasure, he is truly special and notes his biggest influence as Hank Williams Jr. Oliver wants to give hope to the working class and your average hard working young man who may have lost hope in the grind of trying to get by.”
In “Rich Men North of Richmond,” Anthony sings of the injustices he sees in modern society. For example, in one line, he says, “I’ve been selling my soul, working all day. Overtime hours for bullsh– pay.”
The message in “Rich Men North of Richmond” resonated with a lot of people, and fast.
“Rich Men North Of Richmond” Tops The iTunes Chart After Going Viral
In just a matter of days, Anthony was one of the hottest names in country music. As of this writing, the video of him performing “Rich Men North of Richmond” has over 8.7 million views since it was posted on August 8.
“Rich Men North of Richmond” also claimed the #1 spot on the all-genre iTunes Top Songs chart. On top of that, four of his other songs landed in the chart’s Top 10.
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He beat out Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer,” Luke Combs‘ version of “Fast Car,” and Jason’s Aldean‘s previous #1 song “Try That in a Small Town.”
Jamey Johnson Joins Oliver Anthony At His First Public Gig
In response to his newfound popularity, Anthony scheduled his first public gig on Sunday (August 13). The turnout was overwhelming, with thousands of people in attendance.
Anthony said his fans “filled 25 acres with cars” to come see him perform.
One famous face in attendance was Jamey Johnson. He joined Anthony onstage to perform his song “In Color,” which Oliver previously covered on YouTube.
An unforgettable moment just happened… country legend Jamey Johnson joined @AintGottaDollar for a surprise performance of his epic song “In Color” 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯 pic.twitter.com/GJxtQVk8qy
— Jason Howerton (@jason_howerton) August 13, 2023
Who Is Oliver Anthony & How Did He Become A Singer?
Since Anthony became famous overnight, not much is known about him. We do know a little about his past thanks to a video he uploaded introducing himself before “Rich Men North of Richmond” went viral.
In that video, Anthony shared how music became a great outlet for him. Previously, he spent a lot of time “getting high and getting drunk.” He got to the point where “things that [he]did care about didn’t mean anything to [him] anymore.”
But music started to mean something to Anthony. As he wrote more songs and saw listeners’ positive responses to them, he realized maybe he could make things work as a singer-songwriter.
Is Oliver Anthony Planning To Release More Music?
In his introductory video, Anthony hinted that more music is on the way. He said, “There’ll be a lot of positive songs, too, and there already are some — ”90-Some Chevy,’ ‘Ain’t Gotta Dollar’ and ‘Between You and Me’ — there’ll be more songs like that.”
Billboard confirmed that John Rich of Big & Rich offered to produce an album for Anthony. Stay tuned for any future updates on that project.
In the meantime, head below to watch Anthony’s viral performance of his song “Rich Men North of Richmond.”