Country music is taking over the mainstream charts.
For just the second time in history, three country songs occupy the Top 3 spots on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, thanks in large part to the rapid rise of Oliver Anthony’s “Rich Men North of Richmond.”
It claimed the top spot this week, debuting at #1 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart, with Anthony becoming the first artist to ever have their very first appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 chart be a #1 debut.
He’s also the first artist who’s not signed to a record label to hold the top spot on the all-genre chart.
Luke Combs moved up to the #2 spot on the all-genre chart with his cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car,” and Morgan Wallen dropped to #3 with his multi-week #1 hit “Last Night.”
The last time three country songs occupied these spots on Billboard was three weeks ago (which was the first time in history), when Jason Aldean peaked at #1 with “Try That In A Small Town,” and Morgan was at #2 and Luke at #3, respectively, with the aforementioned two singles.
Luke Combs has been hovering around that #2 spot for several weeks now, and was previously projected to eventually dethrone Morgan from the top spot and claim an all-genre #1 hit.
We’ll see if Luke can manage to knock off Oliver Anthony next week, or if Anthony might secure his first multi-week hit.
Either way, it’s kinda cool to see country music take over the pop charts for a few weeks.
Oliver Anthony Becomes The First Artist To Debut At #1 On The Billboard Hot 100 With “Rich Men North of Richmond”
What an insane ride it’s been for Oliver Anthony…and it’s only been two weeks.
The Virginia native (whose real name is Christopher Anthony Lunsford) burst onto the scene a couple of weeks ago when RadioWV posted a video on the YouTube page of Anthony performing his original song “Rich Men North of Richmond.”
The scathing rebuke of the DC political class touched a nerve with listeners, and the video quickly began going viral on social media. The original video has racked up over 30 MILLION views on YouTube alone, and within days Oliver was drawing a packed crowd to a performance at a small North Carolina farmer’s market.
He was even joined by country music legend Jamey Johnson for a performance of “In Color,” and Anthony has since revealed that he’s turned down $8 million offers from record labels since the song took off.
Of course it hasn’t been without controversy, as many people online have taken issue with the line in the song that calls out people who are abusing welfare (I’m sure you’ve probably seen the “fudge rounds” memes going around by now).
But the controversy hasn’t slowed down Anthony’s historic success, and this week the song debuted in the top spot of the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart.
That’s right: Oliver Anthony, who was getting only a few thousand views on TikTok just a couple weeks ago, beat out names like Taylor Swift, Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs on the Billboard charts.
Insane.
And just how insane is it? With “Rich Men North of Richmond,” Oliver Anthony becomes the first artist to ever have their very first appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 chart be a #1 debut.
He’s also the first artist who’s not signed to a record label to hold the top spot on the all-genre chart.
Oh and if that’s not enough, the song is also #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Just for good measure.
Just an incredible rise, something that we’ve never seen before in country music – or in music in general.
“Fast Car”
“Last Night”
Zach Bryan’s “Something In The Orange” Breaks Chart Record
If there ever was such a thing as a breakout hit, then it would certainly be Zach Bryan’s “Something in the Orange.”
Of course, it was included on his massive major label debut studio album, the 34-song American Heartbreak album last year, and was also certified 4x Platinum in June.
And it’s now officially the longest charting country single of all-time for a male artist on Billboard’s Hot 100, after 65 consecutive weeks there.
Currently sitting at #18, “Orange” also surpasses Carrie Underwood’s “Before he Cheats” to become the second longest-charting country song of all time, following Leann Rimes’ “How Do I Live” at 69 straight weeks.
It also became a hit at country radio, far exceeding anyone’s expectations as there was no initial first push to even get it on the radio, where it initially started charting organically at stations across the country because it became such a fast fan-favorite.
And while the beautiful songwriting and meaningful lyrics on the Zach solo-write immediately caught my attention when he first teased it late in 2021, Zach said in an interview with Today’s Country Radio with Kelleigh Bannen a while back that there’s not really any deep meaning behind it.
He added that so many people think it was over some “deep, dark thing” that maybe happened in his personal life, but he really just got the idea randomly while staying at a cabin in Wisconsin:
“‘Something In the Orange’ was a weird song because everyone thinks it was over some deep, dark thing. And it was just me in a cabin in Wisconsin.
And I was like, I thought about the word orange, and I was watching the sunset, and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s a cool story to tell in a song,’ you know?”
Of course, regardless of the story behind it or how it came to be, the single (along with the aforementioned album) has certainly pushed Zach into the forefront of mainstream country (whether he loves that part or not), and he even took home his first major award this year when he won the ACM trophy for New Male Artist of the Year in May.
And if you’re as excited for new Zach Bryan music as I am, you’re in luck, because he recently said on Twitter that the album is officially done and he self-produced it for the first time, which will add a neat layer to the listening experience for sure.
He also confirmed recently that it will be dropping in August, and has even been teasing some new stuff that seems likely to be featured on the 11-song tracklist.
I already love this one called “I Remember Everything”:
“Something In The Orange”
