Oliver Anthony Music’s ‘Rich Men North of Richmond’ Makes Historic Start at No. 1 on Hot Country Songs Chart
Written by djfrosty on August 22, 2023
Oliver Anthony Music’s viral hit “Rich Men North of Richmond” rockets in atop Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart dated Aug. 26.
As previously reported, the track debuts at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100.
Since its official Aug. 11 release, following previews on TikTok, the song has been a lightning rod for media coverage from both left- and right-leaning media outlets and pundits.
The song drew 17.5 million streams and sold 147,000 downloads in the tracking week ending Aug. 17, according to Luminate. Although it’s not being promoted to radio, it also drew 553,000 radio airplay audience impressions, including 516,000 from country stations. (It’s trending toward a debut on the Sept. 2-dated Country Airplay chart, with more than 1 million impressions Aug. 18-21, per preliminary data.)
“Richmond,” which was solo-written by the Farmville, Va.-based singer-songwriter and former factory worker born Christopher Anthony Lunsford (his stage name honors his grandfather Oliver Anthony), first drew buzz online, including on TikTok, where he boasts 1.5 million followers. On Aug. 11, the song was released wide to digital retailers and DSPs and posted to the radiowv YouTube account, which spotlights unsigned Americana and country acts in the Virginia/West Virginia region.
Since Hot Country Songs became the genre’s main Billboard songs chart in October 1958, just 14 songs have debuted at No. 1 — with Anthony the first artist to do so with no prior chart history.
No. 1 Debuts on Hot Country Songs:
- “Rich Men North of Richmond,” Oliver Anthony Music, Aug. 26, 2023
- “You Proof,” Morgan Wallen, May 28, 2022
- “Thought You Should Know,” Morgan Wallen, May 21, 2022
- “Don’t Think Jesus,” Morgan Wallen, April 30, 2022
- “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version),” Taylor Swift, Nov. 27, 2021
- “Am I the Only One ,” Aaron Lewis, July 17, 2021
- “Love Story (Taylor’s Version),” Taylor Swift, Feb. 27, 2021
- “Wasted on You,” Morgan Wallen, Jan. 23, 2021
- “Forever After All,” Luke Combs, Nov. 7, 2020
- “7 Summers,” Morgan Wallen, Aug. 29, 2020
- “Meant to Be,” Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line, Dec. 16, 2017
- “Forever Country,” Artists of Then, Now & Forever, Oct. 8, 2016
- “My Baby’s Got a Smile on Her Face,” Craig Wayne Boyd, Jan. 3, 2015
- “More Than a Memory,” Garth Brooks, Sept. 15, 2007
Brooks became the first artist to bound in at No. 1 on Hot Country Songs with “More Than a Memory” in 2007, when the chart was based solely on airplay. Since October 2012, the list has shared the Hot 100’s streaming-, airplay- and sales-based methodology.
The closest any act came to Anthony’s feat of launching at No. 1 with no prior history was Craig Wayne Boyd, thanks to his run as a contestant on NBC’s The Voice. (Plus, while Artists of Then, Now & Forever were introduced with “Forever Country,” the collective comprised over 30 established stars.)
Of the 14 debuts above, Morgan Wallen boasts a record five. Taylor Swift is the only other artist with at least two.
Meanwhile, “Richmond” becomes the first Hot Country Songs leader by an artist with an initial entry on the chart since Niko Moon, whose “Good Time” reigned for a week in March 2021.
“Richmond” is also the first solo-penned No. 1 since Taylor Swift’s “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” in February 2021.
“Richmond” enters Country Digital Song Sales at No. 1 and Country Streaming Songs at No. 2. Anthony sends 13 tracks onto the 25-position Country Digital Song Sales list, tying for the most in a single week; country icon Kenny Rogers first achieved the feat on the April 4, 2020, chart, after he passed away that March 20.
Anthony concurrently debuts two other tracks on Hot Country Songs: “Aint Gotta Dollar” at No. 21, and “Ive Got to Get Sober,” at No. 35. The former, released in September 2022, opens with 3.5 million streams and 17,000 sold Aug. 11-17, while the latter, released this July, enters with 2.3 million streams and 12,000 sold.