“I’m sitting in such a weird place in my life right now,” he wrote, noting that he received “50,000+ messages and emails” recently with people sharing heartbreaking stories. “I never wanted to be a full time musician, much less sit at the top of the iTunes charts. Draven from RadioWv and 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.
The singer then ran down his biography, sharing that his name is Christopher Anthony Lunsford, but the stage name Oliver Anthony is in honor of his late grandfather and “1930’s Appalachia where he was born and raised.” He dropped out of high school at age 17, but went on to earn his GED. He worked multiple jobs before suffering a fractured skull after a “bad fall” in 2013, which led him to move back to his home state of Virginia. “There’s nothing special about me.
He then opened up about his feelings surrounding the divisive nature of the Internet and reclaiming freedom. “When are we going to fight for what is right again? MILLIONS have died protecting the liberties we have. Freedom of speech is such a precious gift. Never in world history has the world had the freedom it currently does. Don’t let them take it away from you,” he concluded.