Country star John Rich urges 'Rich Men North of Richmond' singer to remain independent

Country music star John Rich is praising "Rich Men North of Richmond" singer Oliver Anthony while urging the new music phenom to remain independent. 

"I think he's an important voice and an important artist," Rich told the "Just the News, No Noise" TV show on Friday night in an interview celebrating Rich’s new album, “The Country Truth,” and his new independently released single, “I Am Offended.”

“I hope he stays independent. And it's honestly a pleasure to be able to kind of counsel this guy and say, 'Hey, man, it's all gonna be fine. Just take it easy.' But I'm proud of him. He's a really good guy,” he added.

Earlier this month, Anthony filmed himself on his Virginia farmland with a guitar playing his "Rich Men North of Richmond" song, which has been viewed over 20 million times on YouTube. The song recently hit number one on the Apple charts, passing country singer Jason Aldean's "Try that in a Small Town."

"You got a guy standing on a flatbed trailer in the woods with nothing but a resonator guitar, singing a song he wrote straight from his guts," Rich said. "I mean, it's incredible."

The song has been described as a "blue collar anthem" as it discusses greed of politicians in Washington, D.C., high taxation and despair. 

Anthony wrote on a recent social media post that he has turned down $8 million offers and has no interest in being famous. 

"I'm sitting in such a weird place in my life right now," Anthony wrote in a Facebook post. "I never wanted to be a full time musician, much less sit at the top of the iTunes charts. ... I filmed these tunes on my land with the hope that it may hit 300k views. I still don't quite believe what has went on since we uploaded that. It's just strange to me."

Anthony continued: "People in the music industry give me blank stares when I brush off 8 million dollar offers. I don't want 6 tour buses, 15 tractor-trailers and a jet. I don't want to play stadium shows, I don't want to be in the spotlight. I wrote the music I wrote because I was suffering with mental health and depression."

The singer also clarified that his real name is Christopher Anthony Lunsford. Oliver Anthony was his grandfather and "Oliver Anthony Music" is a tribute to him and the Appalachia community in which he was raised. 

Rich said he has been in touch with Anthony and said he's not making any major decisions regarding music and is just keeping low and reading the Bible. 

"I think he represents millions and millions of people that feel exhausted and shredded and exasperated by what they see going on in the country, and that song absolutely nailed it," he stated.

Rich added that he has been able to counsel Anthony and give him advice in terms of a lot of record labels wanting to sign him.

"I said, 'Here's the thing: if you don't know what you're supposed to do, don't do anything. Just slow down. Take a breath.' I said, 'I got no agenda with you, man — other than to make sure you stay intact.'"