When recording “Rich Men North of Richmond”, Oliver Anthony had no idea the popularity the song would bring. With nothing more than a song in his heart, Anthony watched as the song dominated the airwaves and even topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Becoming an overnight success, the country singer found himself dealing with a management company that wanted to make him a big star. And while entertaining the ideas the company had, Anthony didn’t last long as they wanted him to give Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter a glowing review.
Caring little about gaining fame or becoming a millionaire, Anthony decided to post a video about his career in the music industry. Explaining what he learned, the singer revealed how most music companies wanted a product over a singer. And while understanding how the business worked, Anthony wasn’t about to give Cowboy Carter a positive review. “One of the guys I worked with, he wanted me to make some stupid f**king post about Beyonce’s country album. About how it was good… even though it was complete trash. It makes me just want to throw up, trying to listen the beginning of her version of ‘Jolene.’”
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Fans React to Oliver Anthony
Giving his full, honest review of Cowboy Carter and Beyonce, Anthony didn’t stop there as he continued, “Just total cringe. It represents how degenerative our society has become that a song like a Beyonce version of ‘Jolene’ can come out and anybody actually listen to it and think it not’s complete f**king trash.”
With Anthony not complying with the industry standard, the country singer explained why they wanted him to praise Beyonce. “I was supposed to make a post… basically trying to associate myself with Beyonce in hopes of us doing some kind of song together.”
While sharing his honest thoughts on the music industry and Cowboy Carter, fans seemed to praise Anthony for his honesty as comments read, “Dude just exposed the entirety of Nashville. No one is realer than this dude.” Another comment added, “Love your honesty and down to earth intelligence – keeping your feet on the ground and seeing the music industry for what it is.”
(Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
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