‘Rich Men North Of Richmond’ Singer Cancels Concert Due To High Ticket Prices – Deadline

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Oliver Anthony is having none of it.

The singer behind the left-wing hit “Rich Men North of Richmond” said on social media that he had canceled a concert scheduled for Sept. 27 in Tennessee due to high ticket prices.

“Cotton Eyed Joe’s game has been cancelled,” he wrote on Facebook this week, referring to the Knoxville arena where he was scheduled to play. “Ultimately, it’s my fault that I didn’t engage directly with the places that reached out to us.”

Tickets for the show are priced at $99, with the fan meet-and-greet pegged at $199.

His post followed an earlier post in which he wrote: “I apologize for the price at Cotton Eyed Joe’s. I have a friend of mine who is trying to help me book gigs. I told him I don’t want to do anything over $40 a ticket, and it better be no more than $25 a piece.” These are supposed to be affordable shows. Please do not pay $90 for a ticket. I will work out the details with him and if we have to reschedule this event elsewhere we will.

A new concert date has not been set for September 27, but the singer has more than six dates booked through October.

“My plate was full and I delegated the responsibility to someone else to help me with the reservation,” he wrote in a subsequent Facebook post. “I’m not pointing the finger at Cotton Eyed Joe, and I don’t know where the misunderstanding happened. I’m just upset to see those prices. We’ll find another place in the Knoxville area that can buy a $25 ticket and a free meet and greet. I’ll work on refunding your tickets from My own budget if they can’t. This will never happen again. Thanks for your patience. I’m still learning how this all works.

“Rich Men North of Richmond” caused quite a stir last month. After topping the Apple, Spotify and iTunes charts, the politically charged song made Billboard history last month by becoming the first time 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 the 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 “taxing your dollar endlessly because of the rich guys north of Richmond.”