It’s incredible what the power of a good, honest, authentic country song can do.
Over the last day or so, Virginia native Oliver Anthony has gone mega viral on social media with his powerful blue collar anthem, “Rich Men North of Richmond.”
RadioWV shared a raw, acoustic video of the song a couple days ago, which quickly gained traction on social media and has become one of, if not the most, listened to tracks in the world in the last 24 hours.
It reached #1 on the U.S. iTunes chart today, an impressive feat, to say the least, for an artist no one had even really heard of a few days ago.
His song “Ain’t Gotta Dollar” is also sitting at the #9 spot:
The incredibly honest lyrics tell the story of a working-class man fed up with corporate America and more specifically, the politicians in Washington DC, and the game that executives expect the character to play.
It sends the message of a giant middle finger to the powers that be from an employee just trying to make it by:
“I’ve been selling my soul
Working all-day
Overtime hours, bullshit pay
So I can sit out here
And waste my life away…”
Definitely check it out if you haven’t seen the original video yet, which already has over one million views and counting quickly:
Anthony lives on 90 acres out in Farmville, Virginia, and clearly writes straight from the heart about things that matter to many people all over the country, which they relate to and know about all too well.
Jason Howerton reached out to Anthony in the midst of all of his viral fame, getting to hear straight from him about his life story and what has led him to this very significant moment.
Anthony told him that he recently became sober after struggling with alcohol and mental health issues.
About a month ago, he found himself alone and in the depths of despair, breaking down and promising God that he would get sober if it helped him follow his musical dreams.
After about 30 days, someone reached out to him about recording a video for his Youtube channel, which turned out to be the aforementioned “Rich Men North of Richmond” shared by RadioWV that has since been shared all over the internet by millions of people.
How incredible is that?
Of course, this is all the very beginning for a new chapter in Anthony’s life, but what an already incredible story about a bright young artist who clearly has so much to offer not only country music fans, but the world.
That’s something you don’t come by very often:
“In the past, Oliver was struggling with mental health & coping with alcohol. In depths of despair, just about a month ago, Oliver got to his knees & broke down in tears.
Though he’s wasn’t a religious man, that night he promised God to get sober if he helped him follow his dream. Oliver was about 30 days sober when someone reached out & asked him to come record a song for his YouTube channel.
That song was ‘Rich Men North of Richmond.’ Within days, the song was going VIRAL on social media.”
It’s obviously very early and Anthony just uploaded “Rich Men” to streaming platforms as of yesterday, but he clearly has the intrinsic, important quality of any lasting artist to resonate with people through his songs in such an authentic, impactful way.
And of course, in my very humble opinion, the best country music in the world is coming out of the Appalachian region, and it looks like we’ve got another good one quickly on the rise:
You can get to know a little more about Anthony’s story here, and I’d highly suggest it, because I have a feeling we’re going to be hearing a whole lot more from him very soon:
And check out some of his other music below, it’s all absolutely fantastic:
“Ain’t Gotta Dollar”
“Rich Man’s Gold”
“Feelin’ Purdy Good”
