Oliver Anthony Shoots down $8mil Deal – “I don’t want to be in the spotlight”

Oliver Anthony has blown up overnight in the music world.

Everyone loved his song, “Rich Men North of Richmond.”

The song connected to the heart of America with its themes talking about the plights of the working man.

Oliver came out with a lengthy Facebook post talking about music deals and formally introducing himself:

Someone like Oliver only appears once in a blue moon.

Such a caring person who truly believes in the music they’re producing.

So much so that they are shooting down multi-million dollar deals to stay true to their message.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch has more on the story:

Farmville singer Oliver Anthony says he’s no in hurry to sign $8 million record deals and revealed more information about himself in a lengthy Facebook post.

After becoming a viral sensation for his song “Rich Men North of Richmond,” the singer has not responded to interview requests from the Richmond Times-Dispatch, or any other media outlet yet.

But he did post a lengthy personal response on Thursday for the first time since his song “Rich Men North of Richmond” racked up over 18 million views on YouTube.

“People in the music industry give me blank stares when I brush off 8 million dollar offers. 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 posted to Facebook. “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.”

The American people are obsessed with this man.

And now that he is turning down huge music deals.

People are starting to realize he really believes in what he is singing about.

🚨 JUST IN: Breakout Country Music Star Oliver Anthony Has Turned Down Offers As High As $8,000,000 Since Going Viral!

HE’S REFUSING TO LET THEM CONTROL HIM!

🎶 “These Rich Men North of Richmond – Lord Knows They All Just Wanna Have Total Control” 🎶

GOD BLESS THIS MAN! pic.twitter.com/nZlCkaRDFA

— Matt Wallace (@MattWallace888) August 18, 2023

This guy might end up being the real dealhttps://t.co/8uspcyDgdv

— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) August 18, 2023

Let’s turn it over to Variety for more:

In Thursday’s much more explanatory post, Anthony described himself as a high school dropout who has lived and worked in North Carolina and Virginia, working in industrial manufacturing for the last nine years and “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. People are SO damn tired of being neglected, divided and manipulated.”

Perhaps in response to skeptics who have wondered how Anthony can now afford to own a large farm if he is the low-paid worker described in the song, the singer put a dollar figure on the property and his living quarters on it. “In 2019, I paid $97,500 for the property and still owe about $60,000 on it. I am living in a 27′ camper with a tarp on the roof that I got off of craigslist for $750.”

Writing about the response that has come in over the last week, Anthony wrote, “It’s been difficult as I browse through the 50,000+ messages and emails I’ve received in the last week. The stories that have been shared paint a brutally honest picture. Suicide, addiction, unemployment, anxiety and depression, hopelessness and the list goes on… I’m sitting in such a weird place in my life right now. I never wanted to be a full time musician, much less sit at the top of the iTunes charts. Draven from RadioWv 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.”

If Anthony seemed ambivalent about his instant success, he seemed less unsure about the idea expressed in his hit song that America is going to hell in a handbasket. He did not add any specifics about political beliefs or theories, a la the condemnation of welfare queens or allusions to child sex trafficking that appear in the lyrics, nor did he directly refer to the polarized response to his music, which has seen “Richmond” embraced by figures like Kari Lake, Dan Bongino, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and others and decried by many music fans further to the left.

“I HATE the way the Internet has divided all of us,” he wrote. “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.”

I can’t listen to Oliver Anthony’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” without getting chills.

It’s raw, it’s true, & it’s touching the hearts of men & women across this great nation.

Thank you, @AintGottaDollar for writing the anthem of this moment in American history. pic.twitter.com/D7VTtMVv97

— Kari Lake (@KariLake) August 12, 2023

With so much turmoil occurring all over America.

From a downward spiral in our economy.

The housing market becoming increasingly inflated.

And Biden and Democrats creating havoc with the court system.

Oliver Anthony puts a voice to the American people.