Over the past week, Oliver Anthony has summited the music charts, thanks to his viral hit “Rich Men North of Richmond,” which highlights working-class frustrations (and, in some of its most controversial lyrics, the country’s welfare system) and has been met with both intense praise and backlash.
The song first gained national attention late last week, when RadioWV’s YouTube live video for the song began gaining millions of views (that YouTube post now has more than 16 million views). By the end of Aug. 11, “Rich Men North of Richmond” topped the iTunes country chart, and since then, “Rich Men” has soared to the top of the all-genre iTunes chart. According to Luminate, the daily official on-demand U.S. streams for “Rich Men North of Richmond” grew to over 3 million on Tuesday (Aug. 15). The song also resides at No. 1 on the Spotify Top 50-USA chart, as of Wednesday afternoon (Aug. 16).
The song and YouTube video gained traction initially, in part, through various media personalities who shared the video, including John Rich, Joe Rogan and Matt Walsh, as well as Barstool Sports and conservative outlet Breitbart posting it on social media.
The consumption of Anthony’s music extends beyond “Rich Men.” His song “Ain’t Gotta Dollar” is currently No. 1 on Spotify’s Viral 50 chart, with five of his other songs resting in the chart’s top 10 on Wednesday afternoon, as of publishing.
These numbers have swiftly led to an industry feeding frenzy for Anthony, with one label head telling Billboard, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this before.”
Anthony acknowledged the rush of record labels trying to sign him on Wednesday, when he posted on social media to let his followers know about a show this coming Saturday at Eagle Creek Golf Club and Grill in Moyock, North Carolina.
“We are working on a full line up of shows with bigger accommodations in the near future,” Anthony wrote on his official music Facebook page. He also noted, “Everyone in the ‘industry’ is rushing me into signing something, but we just want to take things slow right now. I appreciate your patience.”
