The saga of Oliver Anthony—the self-published recording artist who garnered national attention, mentions by major politicians, and a whole ton of YouTube views with his sudden breakout hit “Rich Men North Of Richmond”—has now taken a turn for the corporate, it seems. Deadline reports that Anthony (who’s hesitated to sign any major deals after becoming the first artist to ever debut at the very top of the Billboard Hot 100 with his very first song on the list) has signed with the Nashville branch of Hollywood’s United Talent Agency.
Anthony’s decision to sign with UTA comes as summer is winding down, and with it, maybe, the inescapable popularity of the song—now sitting at 22 on the Hot 100, which is still pretty good for a completely indie song recorded on a phone. (But still a long way down from its multi-week peak.) It is now, presumably, time to see how much genuine staying power he has outside of singing angry anthems about people on welfare—although he’s previously made comments suggesting he wants to take things slow before signing on for a full album or any kind of major deal.
As for UTA, it’s not hard to see why they signed him, even before parsing typical agency speak. (“We’re honored to represent such an authentic artist, and excited to put together a global strategy to bring Oliver Anthony and his music to the people.”) The most-viewed video of “Rich Men”—which features Anthony, his guitar, his dog, and not much more—has picked up more than 70 million views on YouTube in the span of about a month, while more recent releases have picked up millions of views within a few days of release. Meanwhile, he’s been making the media rounds, including appearing on Joe Rogan’s podcast, and doing a handful of live shows in his native South. Even beneath the general Rorschach test effect of his lyrics—which blend plaintive folk misery with more Fox News-y lines about “minors on islands”—it’s clear that he’s hit some kind of powerful vein of feeling here; the question now is whether UTA will succeed in helping him make the most of it.
