One-hit wonder says he’s quitting music industry, focusing on ministry

A recent one-hit wonder says he’s quitting the music industry and focusing on a new goal.
Oliver Anthony, who hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 last year with his viral song “Rich Men North of Richmond,” announced this past week that he is walking away from the business to focus on traveling ministry work.
“I’m in the process of getting out of the music industry. It’s a big joke,” the country singer said in a YouTube video filmed in Virginia, where his career began. “The plan is to eventually change my entire focus to traveling ministry work. It’s all part of this Rural Revival thing. I just have to go at it in baby steps since it’s completely DIY. No, I’ll still be releasing music just like normal, I’ll just be set up legally as a ministry.”
Rolling Stone reports Anthony’s Rural Revival says it will focus on “revitalizing rural farms and communities, promoting sustainable development, and improving the quality of life for people living in rural areas” by transforming abandoned farms into places where “people can go and learn how to can food and learn how to raise animals.” He also says he hopes to help with mental health issues, including people who have gotten out of rehab, suffer from PTSY, and/or are depressed and suicidal.
Anthony, whose real name is Christopher Anthony Lunsford, previously made headlines last year when his independent single, “Rich Men North of Richmond,” became a favorite among Republicans who praised its lyrics about high taxes and “minors on an island.” Anthony said he was “dead center down the aisle on politics” at the time and intended to criticize politicians on both sides, but now suggests he identifies as a conservative.
“I guess I’m a conservative. I am a conservative because I believe in the first and second amendment,” he said in his YouTube announcement. “I don’t know if I’m a Republican or what the hell I am. I am just somebody who thinks the whole way we live is so ass-backward and so stupid. It serves no one than people at the top of a hierarchy that we no longer really need to serve.”
Also known as Oliver Anthony Music, he went on tour earlier this year and played big venues, including CMAC (Constellation Brands – Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center) in Canandaigua. He released his debut studio album, “Hymnal of a Troubled Man’s Mind,” in March.
Anthony, who adopted his stage name from his grandfather, said his great-grandfather was a traveling minister.
“I have this vision,” he said. “I want to create a routing schedule that runs parallel to Nashville, circumvents the monopoly of Live Nation and Ticketmaster, and goes into towns that haven’t had music in them in a long time. It stimulates their economy, showcases their culture, it uses local vendors and local musicians. You’re not having to drive out to Pittsburgh to a concrete amphitheater to see a show. It’s done out on a farm or on a main street that desperately needs the economic impact.”
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