Overnight sensation Oliver Anthony reveals why he turned down $12.5 million deal

Country music singer Oliver Anthony has rocketed up the charts this week with a powerful protest song, but there’s one thing he is refusing to do next.

Country music singer Oliver Anthony, who rocketed up the charts this week with his protest song “Rich Men of North Richmond”, has opened up on his sudden rise to global fame.

The song, performed on his rural property, struck an immediate chord with many and attracted 20 million viewers on YouTube in its first week. The ballad is another play on the working class struggle, with Anthony howling his disdain at the rich and powerful keeping regular people under their boot.

Viewers have latched onto the rising star’s message, with many believing the simple video upload speaks more to the average person than “any politician ever could”.

His three-minute song has permeated the YouTube algorithm and continues to climb the iTunes charts, as thousands share their own stories of being “beaten down by the system”.

“It’s been difficult as I browse through the 50,000+ messages and emails I’ve received in the last week,” he said in a Facebook post on Thursday.

“The stories that have been shared paint a brutally honest picture. Suicide, addiction, unemployment, anxiety and depression, hopelessness and the list goes on.”

Naturally, music industry officials rushed to push deals under Oliver Anthony’s nose the moment it was clear he had struck gold.

But the humble singer-songwriter says he wants nothing to do with that world, claiming he wants to live a quiet life raising livestock instead.

Country music singer Oliver Anthony, who rocketed up the charts this week with protest song ‘Rich Men of North Richmond’, has opened up on his sudden rise to global fame.

“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,” he said.

“People in the music industry give me blank stares when I brush off 8 million dollar ($A12.5 million) offers. I don‘t want six 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. 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 bullsh**t. Just some idiot and his guitar. The style of music that we should have never gotten away from in the first place.”

But it appears no matter where you go and who you impress, there will always be a group of people eager and willing to misconstrue your message.

Despite the song clearly being about a working class call to arms, there were some who viewed the song as an “offensive right wing anthem” due to a fleeting reference about welfare recipients.

The song also vaguely references elite figures who were involved in “keeping minors on an island”.

The video struck an immediate chord with over 20 million listeners in its first week.

In the lengthy tell-all post, the artist shared his upbringing involving blue-collar work and a series of dead-end jobs.

Born Christopher Anthony Lunsford, Oliver Anthony chose to honour his grandfather’s name with “Oliver Anthony Music,” paying tribute to his Appalachian heritage and the hardships faced by his ancestors.

After dropping out of high school at 17, he earned a college qualification and worked various plant jobs in North Carolina before a life-altering accident led him back to Virginia.

The singer said he has spent the last decade been spent interacting with countless fellow blue-collar workers.

He still lives in a camper trailer on a property he is yet to pay off and openly admitted to his struggles with mental health and alcohol use.

He is certain his story is a mirror held up to a world grappling with similar issues, urging his listeners to embrace their vulnerabilities, seek real connections and delete social media.

“I hate the way the Internet has divided all of us,” he said. “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.”

Originally published as Overnight sensation Oliver Anthony reveals why he turned down $12.5 million deal