Oliver Anthony’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” has rocketed to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart — thrusting a songwriter from Appalachia who insists he’s “nothing special” onto the national stage.
Self-released on Aug. 11, Anthony’s “Rich Men” is a country-folk tune about a man who sells his soul “workin’ all day,” while struggling under the weight of inflation, high taxes and so-called elitism, sparking complaints from liberal critics.
A video of the previously unknown singer sporting a bushy red beard — and wielding a guitar — became a viral sensation thanks to social media, where a number of influential users, particularly in conservative media, began circulating the clip.
But who is Oliver Anthony?
What is Oliver Anthony’s real name?
The singer-songwriter’s real name is Christopher Anthony Lunsford.
“My legal name is Christopher Anthony Lunsford. My grandfather was Oliver Anthony,” he explained in a lengthy Facebook post. Anthony told his followers he uses the name not only as a dedication to his grandfather, “but [also to] 1930s Appalachia where he was born and raised.”
He described his grandfather’s life as “dirt floors, seven kids, hard times.”
As for whether or not he wishes to go by his now-viral identity or his birth name, he said that either is fine by him.
“At this point, I’ll gladly go by Oliver because everyone knows me as such. But my friends and family still call me Chris,” he wrote.
Where is Oliver Anthony from?
Anthony grew up in North Carolina.
He dropped out of high school at age 17 in 2010 and got his GED while living in the small town of Spruce Pine, NC, he shared on Facebook.
In western North Carolina, he worked multiple plant jobs, his last being at a McDowell County paper mill, saying, “I worked 3rd shift, 6 days a week for $14.50 an hour in a living hell.”
How did Oliver Anthony become a musician?
In 2013, Anthony suffered a bad fall at work and fractured his skull, which led him to moving to Virginia to be near family.
“Due to complications from the injury, it took me 6 months or so before I could work again,” he wrote.
After he recovered, he worked in outside sales in industrial manufacturing, taking him 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. People are SO damn tired of being neglected, divided and manipulated,” he added.
“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,” he said.
Oliver Anthony’s struggles with mental health and addiction
His song and message might have gone viral, but Anthony likes to think of himself as “just some idiot and his guitar,” according to a recent Facebook post.
“I’m not a good musician, I’m not a very good person. I’ve spent the last 5 years struggling with mental health and using alcohol to drown it,” he shared. “I am sad to see the world in the state it’s in, with everyone fighting with each other. I have spent many nights feeling hopeless, that the greatest country on Earth is quickly fading away.”
Anthony goes on to say how he hates the division that the internet has brought to the world, and that the internet is “a parasite that infects the minds of humans.”
“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,” he added. “No editing, no agent, no bullshit … the style of music that we should have never gotten away from in the first place.”
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