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.
The Top 10 of this week’s Billboard Hot 100. pic.twitter.com/IQ1cbWI1gz
— Pop Base (@PopBase) August 21, 2023
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.
Oliver Anthony Music becomes the first unsigned artist since 1994 (Lisa Loeb) to be #1 on the Hot 100.
Per @billboardcharts, the song was off RCA Records, “Stay (I Missed You).” Loeb was unsigned at the time.
— Chris Owen (@FiddleSabre) August 21, 2023
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.
