Virginia man, Oliver Anthony, has become an overnight sensation after a video of him performing a soulful rendition of his blue-collar original song went viral.
“Rich Men From North Richmond” surged to No. 1 on the iTunes Country chart, outpacing the former chart leader, Jason Aldean’s controversial track “Try That in a Small Town.”
Oliver Anthony resides in Farmville, VA, with his 3 dogs and a plot of land he plans on turning into a small farm to raise livestock, according to RadioWV.
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“I’ve been selling my soul, working all day/ Overtime hours for bullshit pay,” he sings in the song’s opening lines.
Of “Rich Men North of Richmond,” Oliver said it centers on the problems of the working class, noting, “The universal thing I see is no matter how much effort they put into whatever it is they’re doing, they can’t quite get ahead because the dollar’s not worth enough, they are being over-taxed. … I want to be a voice for those people. And not just them, but humans in general.” He went on to add, “As long as you’re above the dirt, you’ve got a fightin’ chance.”
“Rich Men From North Richmond” has also surged to No. 1 on the iTunes Country chart, outpacing the former chart leader, Jason Aldean’s controversial track “Try That in a Small Town.”