Days after bumping Jason Aldean’s controversial single “Try That in a Small Town” and Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” off the iTunes Country and Top Entries charts, respectively, singer-songwriter Oliver Anthony has reached a new milestone with his song “Rich Men North of Richmond.” The viral hit has now topped the Billboard Hot 100.
Anthony has made history as the first artist ever to top the Hot 100 with no prior chart history.
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“Rich Men North of Richmond” has already drawn 32 million views on YouTube since its release. The song also picked up 17.5 million streams, and sold 147,000 downloads in the week ending Thursday (August 17), according to tracking service Luminate. The single also debuted at No. 1 on the Digital Song Sales chart, and No. 4 on the Streaming Songs chart.
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The Farmville, Virginia native, born Christopher Anthony Lunsford, has been releasing his own music since 2022 under Oliver Anthony Music and went viral after radiowv, a YouTube channel that highlights musicians within West Virginia, asked him to record “Rich Men North Of Richmond” to share on their page.
Drawing crowds of hundreds to his local shows at farmer’s markets, the singer was recently joined by Jamey Johnson for a rendition of Johnson’s 2008 hit “In Color” during a show at the Morris Farm Market in Barco, North Carolina, on Sunday (August 13).
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Anthony, who has received some criticism from the left and praise from the right with lyrics like I wish politicians would look out for miners / And not just minors on an island somewhere / Lord, we got folks in the street, ain’t got nothin’ to eat / And the obese milkin’ welfare, said he’s in the middle when it comes to politics. “I sit pretty dead center down the aisle on politics and always have,” said Anthony in a previous YouTube video post.
“The hopelessness and frustration of our times resonate in the response to this song,” said Anthony. “The song itself is not anything special, but the people who have supported it are incredible and deserve to be heard.”
Photo: YouTube
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