Taylor Swift is the biggest pop music star in the world, selling out stadiums around the world.
But Swift just lost her throne.
And that’s because Oliver Anthony just set one record that left Taylor Swift in the dust.
Oliver Anthony became the first singer with no chart history to debut a single at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart with his working class anthem “Rich Men North of Richmond.”
Anthony’s takedown of political elites that stick it to the working class became a viral sensation with over 30,000,000 views on YouTube, 17.5 million streams and selling 147,000 downloads.
Coming in at number one on the charts, Anthony passed country music star Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night,” which sits at number two and Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” coming in at number four on the charts.
But Anthony – whose real name Christopher Lunsford – is in no rush to cash in on his success.
In a post on Facebook, Lunsford revealed he left record executives speechless by turning down multi-million dollar record deal offers and that he is a ways away from making a studio album or being part of the entertainment industry machine.
“People in the music industry give me blank stares when I brush off 8 million dollar offers,” Lunsford wrote. “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.”
Instead, Lunsford explained that he wanted to maintain the integrity of his art as it was personal to him and he did not want to make the compromises that come with being signed to a record label.
“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 bullshit. Just some idiot and his guitar. The style of music that we should have never gotten away from in the first place,” Lunsford added.
Whatever Lunsford decides to do next it is clear he struck a chord with millions of Americans and there is a waiting audience for his next project.
