Singer and songwriter Oliver Anthony has reportedly turned down at least one $8 million offer from the music industry after “Rich Men North Of Richmond” has garnered over 40 million views across YouTube and X.
The viral singer and songwriter detailed the response to his song, which was released in conjunction with YouTube channel “radiowv” on Aug. 8.
“The stories that have been shared paint a brutally honest picture,” Anthony wrote, saying it was difficult browsing through over 50,000 messages and emails in response to his song. “Suicide, addiction, unemployment, anxiety and depression, hopelessness and the list goes on.”
“I never wanted to be a full time musician, much less sit at the top of the iTunes charts,” he continued, adding he was in a “weird place” in his life following the song’s success. “Draven from RadioW and I filmed these tunes on my land with the hope that it may hit 300k views. I still don’t quite believe what has went on since we uploaded that. It’s just strange to me.”
@AintGottaDollar has apparently turned down at least one $8 million offer since "Rich Men North Of Richmond" went viral last week.
"I never wanted to be a full time musician, much less sit at the top of the iTunes charts … I still don't quite believe what has went on since we… pic.twitter.com/K7WVibfQlr
— Chris Bertman (@manofbert) August 18, 2023
“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.”
Anthony wrote:
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. 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.
Anthony revealed his legal name was Christopher Anthony Lunsford and noted his brand “Oliver Anthony Music” was dedicated to his grandfather of the same name. Anthony also revealed he was a high school dropout, though later received a GED, and had previously worked “multiple plant jobs” — most recently at the paper mill in McDowell County, North Carolina.
In 2013, Anthony fractured his skull at work and was forced to move back home to Virginia.
“From 2014 until just a few days ago, I’ve worked outside sales in the industrial manufacturing world,” Anthony said. “My job has taken me all over Virginia and into the Carolinas, getting to know tens of thousands of other blue collar workers on job sites and in factories.”
“Ive spent all day, everyday, for the last 10 years hearing the same story,” he continued. “People are SO damn tired of being neglected, divided and manipulated.”
The viral singer and songwriter said he was living in a camper he bought off Craigslist for $750 which sat on his property that he purchased for $97,500 in 2019.
“There’s nothing special about me,” Anthony wrote, saying he wasn’t a good musician or person. He said he spent the last five years struggling with his mental health and alcoholism. “I am sad to see the world in the state it’s in, with everyone fighting with each other.”
Anthony said he has spent “many sleepless nights feeling hopeless” about America’s trajectory and legacy suggesting the United States was “quickly fading away.”
He continued:
That being said, I HATE the way the Internet has divided all of us. The Internet is a parasite, that infects the minds of humans and has their way with them. Hours wasted, goals forgotten, loved ones sitting in houses with each other distracted all day by technology made by the hands of other poor souls in sweat shops in a foreign land. When is enough, enough? When are we going to fight for what is right again? MILLIONS have died protecting the liberties we have. Freedom of speech is such a precious gift. Never in world history has the world had the freedom it currently does.
“Don’t let them take it away from you,” he concluded. “Just like those once wandering in the desert, we have lost our way from God and have let false idols distract us and divide us.”
“It’s a damn shame.”
