Oliver Anthony soars to #1 on iTunes with blue-collar anthem; Rolling Stone tries to trivialize viral sensation as a right-wing 'screed' with 'Reagan-era talking points'
Breakout music star Oliver Anthony shot to fame this week after his blue-collar anthem exploded across the internet. However, leftwing outlet Rolling Stone took the opportunity to trivialize the viral sensation as simply a country song that "right-wing influencers are losing their minds over."
In just three days, Oliver Anthony's "Rich Men North of Richmond" has racked up millions of views on YouTube, Twitter, and other streaming services.
Despite being a mostly unknown music artist a mere week ago, Anthony is now dominating the iTunes charts – outpacing established stars such as Taylor Swift, Jason Aldean, and Luke Combs. Anthony not only has one song in iTunes top 10 songs, he has an impressive four tracks in the top 10 – "Rich Men North of Richmond" (#1), "Ain't Gotta Dollar" (#2), "I've Got to Get Sober" (#5), and "I Want to Go Home" (#9).
On Friday, Anthony thanked his "awesome" fans for the skyrocketing success.
He announced that he would be playing a free concert on Sunday in Currituck, North Carolina. He said more shows would follow, but things would be "slow" because he isn't rushing into things.
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Tyler Cardon, CEO of Blaze Media, offered to fly Anthony to appear on BlazeTV shows to "help him sell a ton of records."
As TheBlaze previously reported, country star John Rich has reportedly volunteered to produce Anthony's record.
Anthony – who first started writing his own music in 2021 – explained that "Rich Men North of Richmond" was his "first song to get out there that has been recorded on a real microphone and a real camera, and not just on my cell phone."
Anthony said people enjoying his music gave him a new "purpose" in life, and making music will be what he does "at all costs, no matter what."
"I'm going to write, create, and produce as much original, authentic music as I can," Anthony said. "In the hopes that it will at least help somebody out there that needs it."
Anthony, a former factory worker, said "Rich Men North of Richmond" is a scathing musical takedown of politicians in Washington, D.C., who "make life a little more difficult than it should be."
Anthony declared that he sits "pretty dead center down the aisle on politics and always have." He said that "it seems like both sides serve the same master — and that master is not someone of any good to the people of this country."
The singer/songwriter said that both Republicans and Democrats had controversies when they were in power.
In his song "Doggonit," Anthony takes on both political parties: "And Republicans and Democrats, I swear, they're all just full of crap. I ain't never met a good city slicker bureaucrat."
Despite Anthony being in the center politically, the liberal Rolling Stone minimized his amazing story as an artist who is adored by right-wing influencers.
"Right-wing influencers are losing their minds over a new country song that just appeared on streaming services today," the article begins. "'Rich Men North of Richmond' is a passionate screed against the state of the country sung by Oliver Anthony, who identifies as a farmer living off the grid with his three dogs in Farmville, Virginia."
The first paragraph also focuses on Anthony's admitted previous struggles with drugs and alcohol – but he has been sober for over 30 days.
The Rolling Stone writer claims that "Rich Men North of Richmond" is not popular with conservatives because of the struggle and frustration that everyday Americans encounter in a deteriorating United States. Instead, the writer contends, "A look at the lyrics, however, may suggest another reason why 'Rich Men North of Richmond' is appealing to right-wing influencers. Anthony rails against high taxes and the value of the dollar, but also wades into some Reagan-era talking points about welfare."
The writer is also taken aback by the lyrics condemning convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and child sex trafficking.
"The real head-turner though is an apparent allusion to Jeffrey Epstein’s Caribbean island, where the billionaire and convicted sex offender allegedly introduced underage girls to powerful associates," the article states.
The writer says, "He also talks about 'human trafficking,' which he admits is alluded to in the lyrics 'Rich Men North of Richmond.'"
It was just last month that Rolling Stone attacked "Sound of Freedom" – the anti-human trafficking movie that was a surprise success at the box office. Rolling Stone called the film "a superhero movie for dads with brainworms," and, "The QAnon-tinged thriller about child trafficking is designed to appeal to the conscience of a conspiracy-addled boomer."
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