By now, just about everyone on social media has some awareness of Oliver Anthony. If you haven't heard his overnight hit "Rich Men North of Richmond," you've seen his name in headlines proclaiming him either a voice of the common people or a pawn in the far right's latest "culture war" move. At the very least, you might recognize the video still of a red-bearded guy who's playing a Gretsch G9220 Bobtail Resonator out in the woods, with a tree stand in full view.
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On Aug. 8, YouTube channel RadioWV posted the song's video. A then-unknown Anthony sings his heart out and strums with as much conviction throughout a tune inspired by the long history of folk protest songs. There's a rawness to it all — from the ramshackle performance to the off-kilter rhyme scheme — that's optimal for listeners whose definition of "authentic" defies pop gloss and Music Row sheen.
Then, the internet got ahold of the video. Certain right-wing influencers sang Anthony's praises and rallied their followers to press play. Others slammed lyrics that can be read as shaming welfare recipients — a theme joked about in Guy Drake's "Welfare Cadillac" (1970) and used to concoct a less-than-nuanced blue-collar worldview in Merle Haggard's "Workin' Man Blues" (1969). A mere week after a comparable protest and counter-protest cycle shot the much-better-known and way-more-marketable artist Jason Aldean's "Try That in a Small Town" to No. 1 on Billboard's all-genre Hot 100 chart, Anthony enjoyed unprecedented success for an unsigned artist with less than a year's worth of songs on streaming services. Throughout the ongoing discourse, some have accused Anthony's supporters of astroturfing — the practice of manufacturing the facade of grassroots support — and labeled him an industry plant.
In short, it's an immensely polarizing yet undeniably popular song by an immensely polarizing yet undeniably popular singer-songwriter. Read on for what we know so far about Anthony, a Farmville, Va., native who for the most part has kept a low profile while being one of the most talked-about people in pop culture.
Mike Caudill for Billboard/Billboard via Getty Images In the short time since he entered the cultural zeitgeist, Anthony has opened up sparingly about his life story. Most of the information out there, from his legal name to his work history, comes from an Aug. 17 Facebook post on his artist page. "My legal name is Christopher Anthony Lunsford," he wrote. "My grandfather was Oliver Anthony, and [Facebook and Spotify handle] 'Oliver Anthony Music' is a dedication not only to him, but 1930's Appalachia where he was born and raised. Dirt floors, seven kids, hard times. At this point, I'll gladly go by Oliver because everyone knows me as such. But my friends and family still call me Chris. You can decide for yourself, either is fine." Mike Caudill for Billboard/Billboard via Getty Images In the same Facebook post, Anthony explained how his blue-collar background inspired him to write "Rich Men North of Richmond." "In 2010, I dropped out of high school at age 17," he wrote. "I have a GED from Spruce Pine, NC. I worked multiple plant jobs in Western NC, my last being at the paper mill in McDowell County. I worked third shift, six days a week for $14.50 an hour in a living hell. In 2013, I had a bad fall at work and fractured my skull. It forced me to move back home to Virginia. Due to complications from the injury, it took me six months or so before I could work again. "From 2014 until just a few days ago, I've worked outside sales in the industrial manufacturing world," he continued. "My job has taken me all over Virginia and into the Carolinas, getting to know tens of thousands of other blue collar workers on job sites and in factories. Ive spent all day, everyday, for the last 10 years hearing the same story. People are SO damn tired of being neglected, divided and manipulated." Anthony's post went on to shed more light on his backstory. "There's nothing special about me," he wrote. "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. I [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." Mike Caudill for Billboard/Billboard via Getty Images "Rich Men North of Richmond" made history when it topped the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week of Aug. 26. It marked the first time that any artist without a song previously on any chart debuted at No. 1. According to Billboard, the song was streamed 17.5 million times during the tracking week ending on Aug. 17, with 147,000 downloads and 553,000 radio airplay audience impressions further pushing Anthony's chart placement past singles by such much-better-known and much-better-marketed artists as Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift and Luke Combs. In addition, he's the sixth solo artist to top the Hot 100 with their first entry, joining Zayn, Baauer, Carrie Underwood, Fantasia and Clay Aiken. Mike Caudill for Billboard/Billboard via Getty Images As of Aug. 23, Anthony has 16 different songs on Spotify, all posted since last September. Thirteen of them currently rank in the Top 50 of Billboard's Digital Song Sales chart, with "Rich Men North of Richmond" at No. 1 and his "Ain't Gotta Dollar" coming in second. Anthony became the first living man in the chart's history to simultaneously chart 13 or more songs he wrote. Prince and Michael Jackson achieved comparable numbers following their deaths. Mike Caudill for Billboard/Billboard via Getty Images Anthony earns a reported $40,000 per day from sales and streams of his music. It's enough to pay off his land and upgrade his housing situation in a matter of days. "In 2019, I paid $97,500 for the property and still owe about $60,000 on it. I am living in a 27' camper with a tarp on the roof that I got off of craigslist for $750," Anthony wrote on Facebook. Anthony has also shared that he's in no rush to sign a record deal. "People in the music industry give me blank stares when I brush off 8 million dollar offers," he wrote on Facebook. "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. 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 bullshit. Just some idiot and his guitar. The style of music that we should have never gotten away from in the first place."His Stage Name's a Homage to His Grandfather
He's a Former Factory Worker
'Rich Men North of Richmond' Made Chart History
He's Got Other Songs Gaining Chart Traction
He's Reportedly Been Offered Massive Record Deals
