How the man behind anti-Biden protest song saw off Taylor Swift to top the charts but still lives in £600 motorhome
HE’S the number one music artist in the US right now with his searing track that has been adopted by Americans as an anti-Joe Biden anthem.
But despite fending off the likes of Taylor Swift to hit top spot, Oliver Anthony still lives in a motorhome he bought online for £600.
He has become the first musician with no chart history to reach No1 in the Billboard chart — with his acoustic track Rich Men North Of Richmond, which takes aim at the Washington establishment.
During the first Republican Presidential debate this week, the first question to the candidates was: “Why is this song striking such a nerve in this country right now?”
Donald Trump’s closest challenger for the nomination, Ron DeSantis, cited the song’s popularity as evidence that “we must reverse” the US President’s “Bidenomics”.
It was a remarkable stage for the softly spoken singer, who has only played three gigs and describes himself as “nothing special”.
Until his overnight success, Oliver had been living quietly in Farmville, Virginia — a faded former coal- mining town of 7,000 people.
Born Christopher Anthony Lunsford, the 31-year-old got his GEDs — the US equivalent of GCSEs — but dropped out of high school at 17.
In a Facebook post, he said he went through a “living hell” of earning $14.50 (£11.50) an hour labouring in factories.
After fracturing his skull in a work accident, he was employed in industrial manufacturing sales.
Travelling across the country for work allowed him to tap into the disaffection throughout the US.
Oliver wrote on social media: “People are SO damn tired of being neglected, divided and manipulated.”
With the inspiration he needed, and living in his camper van with just his three dogs, he began writing music and posting it online.
On August 8, bushy-bearded Oliver appeared in a YouTube video singing Rich Men in his backyard.
He was reportedly 30 days sober at the time and had promised God he would get clean if he helped him turn his life around.
The video went viral and now has more than 42million views.
It was a blistering lament about politicians and the rich hammering the working class — one of Donald Trump’s central campaign themes.
‘Taxed to no end’
The opening lines are: “I’ve been sellin’ my soul, workin’ all day, overtime hours for b***** pay.”
Oliver complained that his money is “taxed to no end” and, to the delight of conservatives, took aim at obese people “milkin’ welfare”.
He also appeared to reference Jeffrey Epstein’s private Caribbean island, which earned him plaudits among QAnon conspiracy theorists.
The song caught the eye of Matt Walsh of conservative website Daily Wire and controversial US podcaster Joe Rogan, who said it was “insane”.
Oliver said he has since had more than 50,000 emails of support.
But he admitted: “There’s nothing special about me. I’m not a good musician, I’m not a very good person. I’ve spent the last five years struggling with mental health and using alcohol to drown it.”
And he claims to have “brushed off” record deals worth £6.3million, instead earning a reported £32,000 a day from downloads and streams.
Oliver claims his political views are “dead centre”.
He said in a YouTube video: “It was funny seeing my song at the presidential debate. ’Cos it’s like, I wrote that song about those people.
“That song has nothing to do with Joe Biden. It’s a lot bigger than Joe Biden.”
Oliver has only a handful of gigs lined up, at small venues and festivals, and plans to avoid politics.
He said: “I see the Right trying to characterise me as one of their own and I see the Left trying to discredit me, I guess in retaliation. That s*t’s gotta stop.”