"Rich Men North Of Richmond" Singer Rejects $8 Million Record Deal And Shares Raw Message About Mental Health Struggles

We're living in a time when people are more hungry than ever for authentic online experiences. So when an unknown singer who goes by Oliver Anthony appeared on Facebook and Instagram, people were immediately drawn to his raw, honest lyrics and stripped back sound. The video was simple: Anthony with a guitar, outside with his dog, singing into a microphone. No special effects or anything fancy about it. He was just wearing a t-shirt and jeans. His music resonated with so many people that the video took off and reached millions of views.

Anthony's debut single is called "Rich Men North of Richmond," and it has made history by reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. Remarkably, this is the first time an artist with no prior chart history has achieved this feat since the inception of the Hot 100 in 1958. The track, which carries a clear political message, has also topped the Apple, Spotify, and iTunes charts. Hailing from rural Virginia and with a background in farming and factory work, Anthony's song first gained traction on social media. Its lyrics, which include "Your dollar taxed to no end 'cause of rich men north of Richmond," land with many people and contributed to its meteoric rise.

The country genre has been making waves on the charts recently, with Anthony's song replacing another country hit at the top spot. Morgan Wallen's "Last Night" had dominated the No. 1 position for an impressive 16 non-consecutive weeks. Wallen has been a controversial figure, particularly after he was heard using a racial slur. Additionally, Wallen's track and Luke Combs's "Fast Car" achieved another first by becoming the first country songs to occupy the top two slots on the Hot 100.

This trend of country music grabbing headlines doesn't stop there. Jason Aldean's song "Try That in a Small Town" also made it to the top of the Hot 100 chart earlier this month. The track, which has been embraced by conservatives, ran into controversy when its music video was removed from the rotation by CMT. The reason was a scene showing Aldean performing in front of a courthouse known for a lynching in the past, with images projected onto the facade of the building. A week later, the video was further edited to remove scenes featuring Black Lives Matter protests.

Anthony's background as a farmer and factory worker from rural Virginia adds another layer.

Country music's newfound prominence on the pop singles charts indicates a significant shift, whether it's the genre's grappling with social and political issues or its ability to resonate with a broad audience. Anthony's rapid rise to the top, breaking a 65-year-old record in the process, is not only a personal victory but also a sign of changing times in the American music landscape. His background as a farmer and factory worker from rural Virginia adds another layer to this narrative, serving as an inspiration for aspiring artists from humble beginnings. He finally broke his silence on social media this week and gave a little more background into why he wrote this song—and how he has been handling the attention in the last couple of weeks.

"Rich Men North of Richmond" Singer Turns Down $8 Million Record Deal and Shares Raw Message About Mental Health Struggles

On Facebook, Anthony penned a message on his page called Oliver Anthony Music. He said it has been difficult to sift through more than 50,000 messages and emails, but he has been receiving many stories about people suffering from suicide, drug addiction, unemployment, and mental health issues. Because his song touched on the economic issues that plague everyday Americans who have been ignored by the government, many people reached out to share their accounts of how much they've been struggling over the last few years.

Anthony said he never wanted to be a full-time musician, let alone be #1 on the iTunes Charts. He filmed that video hoping that it would get 300,000 views. "I still don't believe what has went on since we uploaded that," he said. "It's just strange to me." He has received much attention lately from fans, record labels, and more.

Anthony said he never wanted to be a full-time musician.

"People in the music industry give me blank stares when I brush off 8 million dollar offers," he continued. "I don't want 6 tour buses, 15 tractor trailers, and a jet. I don't want to play stadium shows, I don't want to be in the spotlight. I wrote the music I wrote because I was suffering with mental health and depression."

He said his songs have connected with millions of people because they're "being sung by someone feeling the words in the very moment they were being sung," without any editing or big-time agent. "Just some idiot and his guitar," he wrote. "The style of music that we should have never gotten away from in the first place."

Anthony's legal name is Christopher Anthony Lunsford. His grandfather's name was Oliver Anthony, so he made that his stage name to pay homage to him. His grandfather was raised in 1930s Appalachia: "dirt floors, seven kids, hard times."

"In 2010, I dropped out of high school at age 17. I have a GED from Spruce Pine, NC," Anthony wrote. "I worked multiple plant jobs in Western NC, my last being at the paper mill in McDowell County. I worked 3rd shift, 6 days a week for $14.50 an hour in a living hell. In 2013, I had a bad fall at work and fractured my skull. It forced me to move back home to Virginia. Due to complications from the injury, it took me 6 months or so before I could work again."

Now, he works outside sales in industrial manufacturing. He's traveled all over Virginia and the Carolinas for his job, "getting to know tens of thousands of other blue collar workers on job sites and in factories." People tell him often how "damn tired" they are of being "neglected, divided, and manipulated."

People are flooding to support Anthony.

Anthony insists there's nothing special about him. "I'm not a good musician, I'm not a very good person," he claims. "I've spent the last 5 years struggling with mental health and using alcohol to drown it." He struggled with feelings of sadness and hopelessness, especially as he witnesses the "greatest country on Earth" losing its wonder.

The post was liked more than 143,000 times and has 17,000 comments. People are flooding to support Anthony and agree that something has seriously gone wrong with our society for so many people to feel neglected and forgotten by the very elected officials who should be putting the people's priorities first. Anthony has been performing locally, and his gigs are jam-packed now that he has received so much attention. He hasn't blinked an eye about the backlash that "Rich Men North of Richmond" has received from mainstream media outlets like The Independent, which claim his song is "so terrible" and even "fatphobic." Perhaps that's exactly why Anthony has generated such a big following in such a short amount of time. He has pissed off the right people, indicating that he knows more about the struggle of everyday blue collar American workers than the media and politicians do.

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