LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: The FBI may have opened a file on Oliver Anthony after he rose to fame with his anti-elite song, whistleblower Edward Snowden reportedly said.
Anthony shot to fame with his debut single, 'Rich Men North of Richmond'. The song's working-class themes resonated with many, propelling it to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The song was even played during this week's Republican presidential primary debate.
Edward Snowden believes Oliver Anthony is on the FBI watchlist
Snowden tweeted, "After hitting topping the iTunes list and tweeting like this, the FBI will be making space for him another kind of list, too."
"Think I'm kidding? The FBI had a file on John Denver for attending *one* anti-war protest. They're gonna keep making lists — until they're made to stop," he added.
Oliver Anthony hits out at Republican party for using his song
Anthony had tweeted on Sunday, August 13, "You Weren't Born To Just Pay Bills And Die," and had slammed the political use of his song.
Anthony was reportedly amused that his song was used at the Republican debate, in a video uploaded to YouTube on Friday, August 25, stating that it was "written about the people on that stage."
He said, "The one thing that has bothered me is seeing people wrap politics up into this. It's aggravating seeing people on conservative news try to identify with me, like I'm one of them," per the Daily Mail.
He further added, "It's aggravating seeing certain musicians and politicians act like we're buddies and act like we're fighting the same struggle here, like that we're trying to present the same message."
John Denver, as mentioned in Snowden's post, had a file opened on him after appearing at an anti-war rally in 1971, coupled with the drug use he documented in his 1994 autobiography 'Take Me Home: An Autobiography', per reports.
