Who is Jesse Welles? Folk singer's protest song against UnitedHealthcare wins over the internet  

Folk singer Jesse Welles garnered immense attention online after releasing a song related to the death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, who was fatally shot on December 4. The former sang about the medical insurance industry and the commercialization of healthcare in the song that dropped on December 11.

Jesse Welles took to social media and expressed his discontent with the corporation, singing:

“There ain’t no you in United Health, there ain’t no me in the company, there ain’t no us in the private trust, there’s hardly humans in humanity.”

The song comes after the alleged shooter, Luigi Mangione, was caught after a five-day manhunt in Altoona, Pennsylvania. He is now facing numerous charges, including murder, and also fighting against being extradited to New York, where he is also facing criminal charges. Meanwhile, lyrics in Jesse Welles’ song also read:

“Now the procedure that you’re needing ain’t the cost effective route, and only 2% of people end up winning dispute. So if you get sick pray to God for help, ‘cause your doctor’s gotta pray to UnitedHealth.”

Jesse Welles is not new to the music industry. According to Saving Country Music's article dated May 20, 2024, he has been releasing albums and songs for over a decade. The Ozark, Kansas native released two albums this year titled Patchwork and Hells Welles. He is best known for his raw tracks on various issues.

He was previously part of the bands Dead Indian, in 2012, and Cosmic-American, formed in 2015. Some other lyrics in the song that were immensely praised online included:

“Commoditized health, monopolized fraud, here’s the doctors we own and the research we bought. They own the pharmacies and a lot of the meds, they should start buying graves to sell us when we’re all dead.”

Meanwhile, Netizens expressed their appreciation for Jesse Welles' track. Comments include:

“Great and so true. My hub’s clinic dropped UH earlier this year. Such a mess,” an X user said.

“Got a great catchy vibe to it. Old soul vibes,” another X user said.

“Well done people are waking,” another netizen said.

Following the death of Brian Thompson, as per Reuter's December 6 report, U.S. businesses including UnitedHealth and CVS Health reportedly removed the profiles of company executives from their official websites. Meanwhile, other reactions to the song read:

“Pretty good and ALL True,” another X user said.

“Very true and thanks for sharing it speaks exactly to what is going on in a fun song! Let’s get our medical field back in order and helping us and God help and save us all,” another user said.

“Nice… truth a song,” a netizen said.

Several netizens have compared Jesse Welles to internet sensation Oliver Anthony, who went viral after releasing the song Rich Men North of Richmond. Meanwhile, other reactions read:

“Dude is trying to be Oliver so bad,” an X user said.

“You will go down in history. Well done, friend. Well done,” a netizen commented.

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Jesse Welles tackles multiple contemporary issues through his music

According to Saving Country Music, Welles has created catchy tunes about multiple political issues, including the U.S.’s military-industrial complex, pharmaceutical companies, the food industry, profiting through the mental health crisis, and also discussing the obesity issue, among other topics.

He amassed over 800,000 followers on Instagram at the time of writing this article and also boasts over 420,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.

Along with the internet pouring praise on Welles, internet personality Joe Rogan also took to his Instagram stories on December 16 to promote Welles’ song about UnitedHealthcare.

Meanwhile, Luigi Mangione remains in the Pennsylvania state prison. He is expected to make a court appearance next week for a preliminary hearing.