Oliver Anthony is having none of it.
The singer behind the left-field chart-topper “Rich Men North of Richmond” said on social media that he has scrapped a September 27 concert in Tennessee because of the high ticket prices.
“Cotton Eyed Joe has been cancelled,” he wrote this week on Facebook, referring to the Knoxville venue he’d been set to play. “Ultimately, it’s my fault for not being more directly involved with the venues who have reached out.”
Tickets to the show were listed at $99, with a meet-and-greet for fans pegged at $199.
His post followed an earlier one in which he wrote: “I apologize for the price at Cotton Eyed Joe. Have a friend of mine trying to help me book gigs. I told him I don’t want to do anything that’s more than $40 a ticket, ideally no more than $25 a piece. These are supposed to be affordable shows. Please don’t pay $90 for a ticket. I’m going to work out the details with him and if we have to reschedule this event somewhere else we will.”
No new concert has been scheduled for September 27, but the singer has more than a half-dozen dates booked into October.
“My plate has been full and I delegated the responsibility to someone else to help me book,” he wrote in the later Facebook post. “I am not pointing fingers at Cotton Eyed Joe, I don’t know where the miscommunication took place. I’m just upset seeing those prices. We will find another place in Knoxville area that can do $25 ticket and free meet and greet. I will work to get your tickets refunded from my own budget if they can’t. This will never happen again. Thanks for your patience. I am still learning how all of this works.
“Rich Men North of Richmond” became viral sensation last month. After topping the Apple, Spotify and iTunes charts, the politically charged track made Billboard history last month by becoming the first time that an artist with no prior chart records has debuted at No. 1 since the Hot 100 began in 1958. The song just fell out of the Top 10 in its fourth chart week.
A farmer and former factory worker from rural Virginia, Anthony’s song first gained attention on social media with its lyrics including, “Your dollar taxed to no end ’cause of rich men north of Richmond.”
