Joe Rogan’s podcast always keeps a pulse on pop culture, and one thing that’s really been at the forefront of social media and music lately is viral country music sensation Oliver Anthony.
Anthony’s meteoric rise has been hard to ignore, and the fact that his “small song” is now the biggest song in the country, and has been at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for two straight weeks.
So when Hulk Hogan was a guest on The Joe Rogan Experience, it only made sense (I guess?) that Oliver Anthony came up. And by the way, “Rogan and Hogan” has a pretty nice ring to it… maybe a morning show with the two of them hosting?
Rogan brought up the Oliver Anthony by asking the Hall of Fame wrestler:
“Do you know the story of Oliver Anthony, or do you know who Oliver Anthony is? He’s this guy who has the number one song in the country and he recorded it in his backyard.”
At first Hogan wasn’t sure if he knew who Rogan was talking about, but as he racked his brain, he asked:
“Is this the red-haired kid we’re talking about? Oh yeah.”
Yep, that’s exactly right. The red-haired guy that’s been on your timeline recently. I also like that for the older generation, they refer to anyone that is younger than them as a “kid.” Oliver Anthony is in his 30s.
Rogan continues and tells the story of how the “Rich Men North of Richmond” singer came to be:
“So this guy gave himself to Christ like 30 days ago and was having all sorts of problems, substance abuse and normal chaos, and he hit rock bottom. I don’t want to speak for him and what he actually said, but it was something to the effect of ‘please God, if you can just straighten my life out, I will dedicate myself to you, and I’ll be on the right track.’
And then 30 days later, he’s clean and he hits with this insane song…This song is insane, and this guy doesn’t have a label. He won’t sign anything. People are trying to get him to sign things, they’re offering him millions of dollars.”
Honestly, what a wild story if true. I guess that’s a win in the “believe in God” column, for those that are keeping score at home. Rogan and Hogan (see what I mean?) started talking about how the song is simple, yet such a great piece of art.
The former wrestler adds his thoughts on the viral song, saying:
“He’s saying what people think.”
And that does seem to be why the song has really taken off. So many people have related to the lyrics of the song, which are obviously anti-Washington D.C. (the people that work there, not necessarily the city itself).
But Rogan couldn’t help but realize that as Oliver Anthony has rose to stardom, there have been plenty of people that have been trying to pull him right back down:
“People are trying to figure out what’s wrong with him. People are saying ‘this guy’s probably got a shady past.’ Can’t people ever just appreciate someone’s thing that they put out there?
I just think we should be more charitable, and when someone just puts out a beautiful song like that, you should go ‘that’s a beautiful song.’ Just enjoy it. Why can’t we just enjoy things?”
I think Rogan has a point there.
Anthony has gotten his “15 minutes of fame” with his new song, and now that he isn’t going anywhere and he’s said a couple of things about bringing people together, people are trying to rip him apart. The “Crab Bucket” analogy playing out in real life…
Oliver also recently stated that he’ll be doing a podcast soon with one of his heroes… could Joe Rogan be that hero? Stay tuned…
The entire clip from the interview on The Joe Rogan Experience can be viewed below:”
