Last year Oliver Anthony was the overnight sensation of all time. An unsigned singer whose political bent was to the right, Anthony had a massive hit with a song called “Rich Men North of Richmond.”
A bunch of his tracks hit iTunes, and they were all over the top 100.
Anthony resisted a major record contract. The result is that today he dropped his first album, called “Hymnal of a Troubled Man’s Mind,” with no notice. In the middle of Beyonce Weekend. “Hymnal” debuted at number 4 on iTunes today.
Will the album or any of its tracks equal last year’s crazy popularity? The 38 minute collection contains Bible passages between the songs. Most of the songs have already been available. As far as individual tracks go, none of them have hit iTunes. Only “Rich Men,” which isn’t on the album, is in at number 94.
Good luck to Oliver. This may be his first, and last, album.