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On Wednesday morning, Oliver Anthony’s song ‘Rich Men North of Richmond’ was sitting comfortably atop Apple Music’s Top 100, in both the U.S. and global markets. That’s a big enough challenge, but Anthony topped it by doing something no other musician has. ‘Rich Men’ debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart this week, the first time that’s happened for a singer with no record label or chart history. He’s also just the sixth person to debut their first single at number 1. The other names aren’t bad company to be in. That includes people like Carrie Underwood, Clay Aiken, Zayn Malik and Fantasia Barrino. 

To even get on a Billboard chart, a musician has to do one of two things. You either have to sell an average of 450 to 500 albums in that week or get between 562,500 to 1.68 million streams. The streaming part doesn’t seem to be a problem for Anthony. Spotify is currently considered the most popular streaming service, with more than 100 million active users. As of Wednesday morning, Oliver Anthony Music was rated number 1 on the group’s “most viral artists” list and it wasn’t even close, with more than triple the streams of rapper Young Miko in second place. 

“I’m sitting in such a weird place in my life right now,” Anthony wrote in a Facebook post on Thursday, Aug. 17. “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.”

‘Rich Men North of Richmond’ goes live 

As for what’s next for the chart topper, he just released another single, “I Want to Go Home” on Tuesday. He’s also coming back to Farmville tonight. Anthony returns for an already sold out concert at the North Street Press Club, beginning at 6:30 p.m. It’s a return to a familiar spot for Anthony, who’s performed at the venue several times in the past. This one will be a bit different, as it’s standing room only, capped at a max of 300 tickets. 

For any residents questioning what that means for traffic, The Herald talked with Farmville Police Chief Andy Ellington, who said that no roads would be blocked off. Concert goers can park at the public parking spots in downtown and walk over to the Press Club. That’s the only caution for drivers, who are asked to be careful with people heading to the show. 

And for anyone reading this that’s heading to the concert tonight, yes, there will be plenty of places to park, with public lots on both sides of Main Street. 

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