Oliver Anthony, 'Rich Men ...' Surges, Tops Hot 100 Chart Again

Oliver Anthony's viral hit isn't going away. In fact, the popularity of "Rich Men North of Richmond" is growing as it spends a second week atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

This matters because last week, Anthony became the first artist with no prior chart history to debut at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 (measuring sales, streaming, airplay and more). The Hot 100 has existed for 65 years.

As of Aug. 28, "Rich Men ..." is also the most-streamed song of the week, to go along with its top ranking on sales charts. Radio airplay is lagging behind, but by typical new artist standards, Anthony's approach on the Billboard Country Airplay Top 40 is remarkable for a song that's just two weeks old.

"Rich Men North of Richmond" nabbed a shade under 23 million streams last week and sold 117,000 digital downloads.
Luke Combs' "Fast Car" and Morgan Wallen's "Last Night" are No. 2 and No. 3 on the Hot 100, respectively.
This is the third time every that country music has gone 1, 2, 3 on the Hot 100. The other two times came earlier this year when Jason Aldean's "Try That in a Small Town" teamed with Wallen and Combs for the trifecta.

Despite what he's described as several offers from record labels, Anthony remains an unsigned artist. His team has been intentionally slow to capitalize off of his fame — there are just a handful of live performances planned through October, and he's done very few interviews.

Ironically, "Rich Men North of Richmond" is getting a kind of attention that Anthony does not want. He's consistently labeled himself as apolitical and tried to separate his song from conservative and liberal ideologies, to the extent of lashing out over its improper use.

Still, the song opened the first Republican primary debate last week, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis explained how he felt the appeal of the song had to do with Americans being upset with President Joe Biden.

“That song has nothing to do with Joe Biden," Anthony says.

"It’s a lot bigger than Joe Biden," he shares.

Share your opinion on Oliver Anthony's "Rich Men North or Richmond" below.

25 Country Songs About the Rural Working Class

West Virginia-based singer-songwriter Oliver Anthony shot to fame overnight after his viral song, "Rich Men North of Richmond," went viral. But Anthony's not the first country-leaning performer to sing about the injustices levied against the rural working class: On the contrary, that subject matter is a staple of the genre, with everyone from Merle Haggard to Luke Combs putting out songs on the subject.

Here are 25 underrated songs that tackle class issues, plus a couple of all-time classics that you might've forgotten about.