Oliver Anthony Won't Sell Out (Thank Goodness) | Christian Toto

Oliver Anthony isn't going Hollywood any time soon, and it’s not for lack of offers.

The Virginia singer who shot to literal overnight fame with “Rich Men North of Richmond” is talking, finally, after his music turned him from an Everyman into an iTunes chart topper.

The track is a blistering assault on the status quo, from politicians seeking to control the public to citizens guzzling from the government’s fiscal fountain.

Livin' in the new world / With an old soul / These rich men north of Richmond / Lord knows they all just wanna have total control / Wanna know what you think, wanna know what you do / And they don't think you know, but I know that you do / 'Cause your dollar ain't s*** and it's taxed to no end / 'Cause of rich men north of Richmond.

Anthony’s other songs climbed the charts, too, after a social media frenzy made him the biggest singer not named Taylor Swift. 

The music industry suddenly cared what a red-headed southerner had to say, eager to turn a profit from his populist tracks. It's hard to blame them.

Thanks, but no thanks, Anthony said via a heartfelt essay on Facebook.

People in the music industry give me blank stares when I brush off 8 million dollar offers. 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. 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 bulls***. Just some idiot and his guitar. The style of music that we should have never gotten away from in the first place. 

He appears to be in his 30s but truly sounds like an old soul.

It’s still unthinkable to turn down massive contract offers, the kind of life-altering deal that could set someone up financially for life. Even the strongest among us might not resist. And Oliver Anthony still could change his mind.

For now, he’s officially not interested. And it could be the smartest decision of his still very young career.

Authenticity is the rarest coin in the pop culture vault. Just ask Joe Rogan, the Everyman comic who speaks from the heart into a microphone and makes tens of millions from it. He didn’t sign with a major, entrenched media conglomerate.

He inked a deal with Spotify, a new mega-company with a CEO, Daniel Ek, who had his back when Cancel Culture came for him.

Dave Chappelle is another genuine artist, someone who walked away from a multi-million dollar contract from Comedy Central when his hit “Chappelle’s Show” suddenly didn’t feel right to him.

Anthony could be another artist in that Rogan/Chappelle mold. And this is the perfect time for such a voice.

After all, the singer didn’t need a label or PR company to get him to where he is right now. He did it himself, with a helping hand from social media, of course. His song’s bottled-up rage spoke to millions, and nothing stood between the lyrics and his fans.

Moving forward, that raw intensity won’t be filtered by executives worried about offending a select audience group.

Anthony could learn a thing or two from Buddy Brown and Tom MacDonald. The country crooner and rapper, respectively, turned down major label interest to keep their sound, their voice, pure. What happened next?

Brown has north of a million YouTube followers and a career built by his own hands. MacDonald boasts 4 million YouTube followers and a string of unlikely hits, including “American Flags” and “Ghost.”

Staying independent could be the best way to sustain a healthy career for Anthony, and Americans need a troubadour who tells it like it is.