Oliver Anthony’s viral hit ‘Effectively to safe Males North of Richmond’ debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making him the first artist to ever debut atop the checklist without any prior chart historical previous.
“Effectively to safe Males North of Richmond,” the breakout hit from Oliver Anthony Music that went viral easiest two weeks in the past, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Songs chart. That fulfillment makes the singer-songwriter the first artist to start on the live of the checklist with no prior chart historical previous.
Primarily based on recordsdata from Luminate, “Effectively to safe Males North of Richmond,” formally launched on August 11, clocked 17.5 million streams and provided 147,000 downloads in the week ending August 17. The tune additionally racked up 553,000 radio airplay target audience impressions, the majority on nation stations, in spite of now no longer receiving promotion on radio. Extra, the tune debuted at No. 1 on the Digital Tune Gross sales chart and No. 4 on Streaming Songs.
Oliver Anthony — true name Christopher Anthony Lunsford, a frail manufacturing facility employee from Farmville, Virginia — selected his stage name to honor his grandfather. His song first drew consideration on-line after posting a video on the RadioWV YouTube memoir of him singing the now-viral tune and taking half in his Gretsch guitar.
“Effectively to safe Males North of Richmond” has drawn each praise and criticism from either aspect politically, with lyrics about “the overweight milkin’ welfare” and “your greenback taxed to no live.” Anthony says he sits “interesting ineffective heart down the aisle on politics” and is “unhappy to thought the sphere in the insist it’s in, with everyone preventing with one yet another.”
“The hopelessness and frustration of our times resonate in the response to this tune,” Anthony tells Billboard. “The tune itself is now no longer anything particular, however the these which indulge in supported it are amazing and have to be heard.”
Meanwhile, Oliver Anthony’s co-supervisor, Draven Riffe, who produced “Effectively to safe Males North of Richmond” and additionally co-primarily based RadioWV, the build the tune first debuted, tells Billboard “there used to be now no longer a total bunch of planning enthusiastic” in its start.
“We factual knew if we bought the video available, folk were going to have the tune, and it can maybe resonate with pretty a lot of oldsters. There wasn’t some tremendous, big planning personnel round this. I had about a web site visitors who helped us push the tune available,” says Riffe. “We all coordinated, and Oliver’s following (coordinated) as successfully; we factual tried to push it available without warning with our little personnel of web site visitors, and that’s how it came about.”
Oliver Anthony is the first artist to ever debut atop the Hot 100 with no need first regarded on any Billboard chart in any invent. He is easiest the sixth artist to debut a necessary solo Hot 100 entry at No. 1, after Zayn, Baauer, Carrie Underwood, Fantasia, and Clay Aiken.
Underwood, Fantasia, and Aiken debuted following the season finales of “American Idol” in 2005, 2004, and 2003, respectively, when each artist gained their season (or, in the case of Aiken, executed 2nd). Zayn’s debut solo be conscious “Pillowtalk” topped the charts in 2016 after he used to be already in the cultural zeitgeist as a member of One Direction. Baauer’s viral sensation “Harlem Shake” debuted a week after first showing on dance/electronic chart rankings.
Oliver Anthony is additionally a uncommon unsigned artist to top the Hot 100. Lisa Loeb changed into the first such artist in 1994 with her hit “Cope with (I Missed You),” — but that tune used to be additionally launched from RCA Info on the Actuality Bites soundtrack. Shortly in a while, Loeb signed with Geffen Info.
“We are engaged on a fleshy (lineup) of reveals with better lodging in the advance future,” Anthony now no longer too lengthy in the past wrote on Fb. “Every person in the ‘industry’ is rushing me into signing one thing, but we factual prefer to take issues gradual appropriate now. I worship your persistence.”
