Joe Rogan was blown away after breakout country star Oliver Anthony shared one particular scripture passage with him during his popular podcast. Visibly moved by the Bible quote, Rogan said, “That’s pretty f***ing profound!”
When Joe Rogan invited viral country singer Oliver Anthony onto his podcast, he had no idea the country artist would blow him away by quoting scripture. Anthony, whose full name is Christopher Anthony Lunsford, rose to prominence when many of his songs rose from obscurity to the top of various music charts throughout the world.
His biggest hit song “Rich Men North of Richmond” remained in the top ten for several weeks in different Apple Music categories, including “Top Songs” and “Top 100: Global.” Anthony stated on Facebook that he dropped out of high school at the age of 17 and worked “multiple plant jobs in Western NC, [his] last being at the paper mill in McDowell county” where he “worked 3rd shift, 6 days a week for $14.50 an hour in a living hell.”
The overnight country sensation, whose first paid gig was at Morris Farm in Currituck County, North Carolina, has opened up about his struggles with depression, drinking, and drug abuse. While speaking on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” Anthony said that he had been “in a really just f***ed-up place,” emphasizing that he used the word “with discretion” but that it was a suitable descriptor in this case.
During that traumatic time in his life, Anthony stated that he “found a lot of peace from this book,” referring to the Bible on the table between him and Rogan. Anthony remembered going to church as a kid, but he was turned off by “a lot of theatrics and a lot of politics.”
Joe Rogan pressed the musician on the nature of his spiritual reawakening, asking, “What was it like the day you picked it up? What was the feeling you had? Like, what caused you to act? What was it like when you did it?”
Anthony replied, “I went to the ER for everything that was going on. I mean I thought I was seriously going to die. Like I was having shooting pains up under my jaw, down in my wrist, in my leg. … Just cardiovascular 101 symptoms. I remember being in the truck after that … and I just, yeah, just had a breakdown moment. I was just crying.” Anthony continued, “I just felt hopeless like almost the way a child feels hopeless when, you know, you can’t find your parent or something, like a 4-year-old that can’t find his parents or something. I was just like, didn’t have anything left in me. I just decided like, right then and there, I was like, ‘I can’t do this anymore,'” he added. “‘But I know … there’s things I need to do.’ And I just — I just told God, I was like, ‘Just let me do it.'”
Anthony recalled promising God to “give all this sh** up” and telling the Almighty, “‘I’ll give up the weed and I’ll quit getting drunk and I’ll quit being so angry about things.'” Anthony informed Rogan that he had also asked God for a clean slate and to “start over again,” making “Him the focus and not me.” Furthermore, the country singer stated that he has since made an effort to reject his ego and everything he was, instead focusing his life on God.
Anthony told Rogan, “We all serve some master, whether we realize it or not, so why not let it be the master that is above all?” The country artist then quoted Proverbs 4:20: “My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body.”
Anthony continued, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free from perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.”
Joe Rogan appeared taken aback, responding, “That’s pretty f***ing profound!” Oliver Anthony replied, “The whole book of Proverbs is like that. Like it’s not preachy, it’s not what you think. … It’s like good guidance you would want a father to give to his son.”
