Country music singer behind viral video plays North Carolina show

Image of Oliver Anthony in his viral music video from YouTube.

Virginia singer Oliver Anthony, whose hit song “Rich Men North of Richmond” became an internet sensation in just days, played a scheduled show in Currituck County on Sunday afternoon.

The viral song, which became a hit for antiestablishment theme, has over 7.7 million views on YouTube as of Sunday and the singer instantly gained tens of thousand of followers on social media.

On Sunday, Aug. 13, the singer had a show scheduled at the Morris Farm Market in Currituck County.

The instant fame of Anthony’s video made the show a must-see as fans swarmed the northeastern North Carolina market.

X accounts show an impressive crowd in 90+ degree heat came to see the singer.

In a surprise appearance, Jamey Johnson made an appearance at the concert and joined Anthony on stage to perform his hit “In Color” at the show.

Anthony said he plans “many more shows” in the future.

In an interview with Billboard, Anthony said of the hit song, “the universal thing I see is no matter how much effort they put into whatever it is they’re doing, they can’t quite get ahead because the dollar’s not worth enough, they are being over-taxed. … I want to be a voice for those people. And not just them, but humans in general.” He went on to add, “As long as you’re above the dirt, you’ve got a fightin’ chance.”

Anthony’s song reached #1 on the Apple U.S. iTunes chart on Friday.

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Matt Mercer is the editor in chief of North State Journal and can be reached at [email protected].