If you’re in a band and reading this, you’ll probably never get signed to a major record label. However, 11-year old Yodeling Walmart Boy, seen in the above photo with unidentified fan, has one.
Since going viral on YouTube (this dumb video had amassed 6,789,425 views as of press time), Yodeling Walmart Boy—whose real name is completely unknown*—has appeared on Ellen! (twice!), graced the Grand Ole’ Opry stage, and made cameos at both Coachella and Stagecoach festivals; and now this fucking kid has his very own big-boy record deal with Atlantic Records/Big Loud.
Ian Cripps, Atlantic Records’ VP of A&R, said with a complete lack of irony that Yodeling Walmart Boy possesses the “talent and emotional ability to really feel a song and sing from his soul.” “We understood [Yodeling Walmart Boy and his team] and their goals, and simply fell in love with their story and vision,” says Seth England of Big Loud Records.
If I’m gonna be famous for somethin’
I wanna be famous for lovin’ you
If I’m gonna be known around the world
I wanna because of you, girl
So goes the chorus of “Famous,” Yodeling Wal-Mart Boy’s first single, which is currently at #10 on the iTunes singles chart.
Since we’re without words here, we’ll let Laura Jane Grace lament on our behalf:
I have to admit that there is a part of me that is slightly depressed that the yodeling wal-Mart kid has a major label record deal and I don’t
— Laura Jane Grace (@LauraJaneGrace) April 28, 2018
* We’re sure Yodeling Walmart Boy does have a real name, but we don’t care enough to Google it.