Comedian and podcast host Joe Rogan invited overnight music sensation Oliver Anthony to perform at his club, The Comedy Mothership, on Tuesday night.
Anthony, the songwriter of “Rich Men North of Richmond” — which has been No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks now — appeared onstage to wild applause.
Comedian and close friend of Rogan, Tom Segura, introduced Anthony to the raucous crowd at the Austin, Texas, venue, telling audience goers he had a “special treat” for them.In between sets, Segura teased the next act, saying, “Guess what? I’ve got a special treat for you. This doesn’t always happen, but this does happen when you come to really cool places like The Comedy Mothership.”
Revealing the identity of the surprise guest, Segura continued, “I’m going to bring on stage, right now — this is so f—ing cool — this young man has exploded in popularity, and we’ve all been blown away by this guy’s talent and we’re so lucky that we get to see it here live tonight. The very amazingly talented Oliver Anthony, everybody! Let him hear it!”
In video of the introduction shared to Rogan’s Instagram account, Anthony appeared from behind the curtain center stage to raucous adulation from the audience. People stood and cheered. Some could be heard screaming in joy at the sight of the songwriter.
Anthony and several accompanying musicians approached the mic on stage with their guitars in hand, primed for a performance. He flashed a grateful smile as the cheers of support continued.
Once the applause began to die down, Anthony finally spoke, quipping, “Alright, so this is my first time at a comedy club, so uh …” The crowd started up another round of loud cheering. The video ended there, just prior to Anthony’s performance. Country music outlet Whiskey Riff reported, “Rogan’s club has a strict no-cellphone policy, so it’s unlikely we’re going to actually hear the performance.”
Rogan has been impressed with Anthony’s meteoric rise that happened in the last couple of weeks after a video of his performance of “Rich Men North of Richmond” exploded on YouTube and social media.
During one of his recent podcast episodes, Rogan praised Anthony and his song to his guest, wrestling star Hulk Hogan. He said, “I love this song. You can’t fake authentic, and Oliver Anthony has it in abundance.”
Rogan also spoke of Anthony’s conversion story to Christianity and pledge to beating alcoholism just before he found this whirlwind success as a musician. The singer-songwriter mentioned these milestones in a recent interview with conservative influencer Jason Howerton shortly after his video went viral.
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