Oliver Anthony controversial viral nation track Wealthy Males North Of Richmond makes US chart historical past

Nation singer Oliver Anthony has made US chart historical past together with his latest controversial single ‘Rich Men North Of Richmond’.

Launched on August 8, the track has since hit Quantity One on the iTunes Nation Charts, soared to the highest spot on Apple Music’s World Music Charts, and racked up over 32million views on YouTube.

The observe has now debuted at Quantity One on the Billboard Sizzling 100 chart, making Anthony – a former manufacturing unit employee and farmer – the primary artist to take action with none prior chart historical past (by way of Billboard).

Anthony (actual identify is Christopher Anthony Lunsford) is simply the sixth individual in Billboard historical past to debut a primary solo Sizzling 100 entry at Quantity One, following within the footsteps of Zayn, Baauer, Carrie Underwood, Fantasia and Clay Aiken.

Along with this feat, Anthony has marked a uncommon look for an unsigned act at Quantity One on the Sizzling 100 having self-released ‘Rich Men…’.

“The hopelessness and frustration of our times resonate in the response to this song,” he instructed Billboard after reaching the highest of the Sizzling 100. “The song itself is not anything special, but the people who have supported it are incredible and deserve to be heard.”

Upon its launch, ‘Rich Men…’ was praised by varied right-wing media figures together with Dan Bongino and Matt Walsh. Republication consultant Marjorie Taylor Greene, in the meantime, described it as “the anthem of the forgotten Americans who truly support this nation and unfortunately the world”.

However different folks have criticised the only for being “fatphobic” and labelled it a “right-wing anthem”.

Regardless of highlighting societal points akin to homelessness within the US and the nation’s psychological well being disaster, the track sees Anthony punch down on the “overweight milkin’ welfare“. He sings that “when you’re 5-foot-3 and also you’re 300 kilos/ Taxes ought to not pay on your baggage of fudge rounds“.

‘Rich Men…’ might partially be interpreted as a working-class anthem, as Anthony mentions “sellin’ my soul” for “bullshit pay“, and lambasts politicians and the “rich men north of Richmond” who “simply wanna have complete management“.

Nevertheless, he takes an anti-taxes stance too. “‘Cause your dollar ain’t shit, and it’s taxed to no end,” he sings elsewhere.

In accordance with Luminate, ‘Rich Men…’ registered 17.5million streams and offered 147,000 downloads within the monitoring week ending August 17. Moreover, the tune acquired 553,000 radio airplay viewers impressions, nearly all of which have been on nation stations.

The track is the primary solo-written Quantity One on the Sizzling 100 since Glass Animals’ ‘Heat Waves’, which was written by the Oxford band’s frontman Dave Bayley.

It is usually the primary track by a solo male to start out atop each the Sizzling 100 and Sizzling Nation Songs on the identical time. It’s the second general, after Taylor Swift’s ‘All Too Well (Taylor’s Model)’ opened at Quantity One on each charts in late 2021.

No phrases… Thanks. pic.twitter.com/UUFVfJQdab

— Oliver Anthony (@AintGottaDollar) August 13, 2023

Anthony held his debut public live performance in Currituck, North Carolina earlier this month off the again of the latest hype. “No words… Thank you,” he wrote, captioning footage of the efficiency and what seemed to be a packed-out crowd.

In an announcement on social media (by way of the Guardian), Anthony stated he wasn’t speeding into signing a file deal simply but.

“People in the music industry give me blank stares when I brush off eight million dollar offers,” he defined. “I don’t need six tour buses, 15 tractor trailers and a jet. I don’t need to play stadium reveals, I don’t need to be within the highlight.

“I wrote the music I wrote because I was suffering with mental health and depression. These songs have connected with millions of people on such a deep level because they’re being sung by someone feeling the words in the very moment they were being sung.”

Anthony continued: “No editing, no agent, no bullshit. Just some idiot and his guitar. The style of music that we should have never gotten away from in the first place.”

Draven Riffe – Anthony’s co-manager, and the only real producer of ‘Rich Men North Of Richmond’ – stated “there was not a whole lot of planning involved” forward of releasing the track.

“We just knew if we got the video out there, people were going to love the song and it would resonate with a lot of folks,” he added.