Morgan Wallen | |
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Birth name | Morgan Cole Wallen |
Born | Sneedville, Tennessee | May 13, 1993
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Years active | 2014–present |
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Website | morganwallen |
Morgan Cole Wallen (born May 13, 1993) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Born in Tennessee, he competed in the sixth season of The Voice, originally as a member of Usher's team, but later as a member of Adam Levine's team. After being eliminated in the playoffs of that season, he signed to Panacea Records, releasing his debut EP, Stand Alone, in 2015.
In 2016, Wallen signed to Big Loud Records, releasing his debut album, If I Know Me, in 2018. The album was a moderate commercial success, and reached number 13 in the United States. Wallen's sophomore album, Dangerous: The Double Album, was released in January 2021 and topped the charts in multiple countries. His single, "7 Summers" reached the top 10 of the charts in the United States and Canada.
Wallen has been the subject of multiple controversies. In May 2020, he was arrested in a bar for disorderly conduct. In October of the same year, Wallen was criticized after photos emerged showing that he was without a mask at a party during the COVID-19 pandemic, where he kissed several women and violated social distancing recommendations. This led Saturday Night Live to postpone Wallen's performance on the show and replace him with singer Jack White. In February 2021, Wallen was recorded using a racial slur which resulted in suspension from his label and removal of his music from many major radio networks in the US.
Morgan Wallen was born in Sneedville, Tennessee to a Baptist pastor and Lesli Wallen.[citation needed] As a child, Wallen took piano and violin lessons. He was offered a scholarship to play baseball in college, but after an injury, chose to pursue music instead.[2]
In 2014, Wallen competed on season 6 of The Voice, initially as part of Usher's team and later Adam Levine's team. He was eliminated during the playoffs.[2]
During Wallen's stint on The Voice, he began working with Sergio Sanchez of Atom Smash who introduced him to Bill Ray and Paul Trust of Panacea Records.[3] In 2015, Wallen signed to Panacea Records and recorded a catalog of songs that resulted in the five song EP Stand Alone. During these recording sessions, Wallen met Dominic Frost (guitar), Mark "Taco" Annino (drums), and Luke "Cowboy" Rice (bass) who became part of his touring band. Stand Alone was released on August 24, 2015, with "Spin You Around" being Wallen's debut track under Panacea Records. During 2015, Wallen began working with Dirk Hemsath of Hard 8 Working Group Management who later got Wallen into contact with Big Loud Records.[3]
In late 2016, Wallen signed to Big Loud Records, a label owned by record producer Joey Moi. He released his debut single "The Way I Talk" soon afterward.[4] In addition, he co-wrote the A Thousand Horses single "Preachin' to the Choir".[2] In April 2017, Wallen released a music video for "The Way I Talk".[5] He also joined Florida Georgia Line for set dates on their Dig Your Roots Tour.[2] Wallen co-wrote the single "You Make It Easy" by Jason Aldean.[6]
On April 27, 2018, Wallen released his debut album, If I Know Me.[7][8] The second single from the album, "Up Down", was recorded with Florida Georgia Line.[9] According to Wallen, he and Florida Georgia Line knew each other, and when FGL heard the single, they became interested in a collaboration.[10] The album's third single "Whiskey Glasses" was released to country radio on July 30, 2018. It reached number one on the Country Airplay in June 2019. Wallen joined Florida Georgia Line on their Can't Say I Ain't Country Tour in 2019.[11] Wallen also made a short appearance on the December 3, 2018 episode of WWE Raw. "Whiskey Glasses" went on to become the year-end number one song on country radio for 2019.[12] Wallen released "Chasin' You" to country radio as the fourth single from If I Know Me in July 2019.[13][14] Wallen was also a co-writer on Dallas Smith's song "The Fall".[15]
In August 2020, If I Know Me reached number one on the Top Country Albums chart after a record-breaking 114 weeks.[16]
On May 27, 2020, Wallen released "More Than My Hometown" to country radio as the lead single to his upcoming second studio album. On August 14, Wallen released the song "7 Summers" and it broke the record for the most first day streams for a country song on Apple Music. It earned him his first top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, debuting and peaking at number six.[17] The song also has been chosen by the Time's best songs of 2020 on November 23, 2020.[18] On November 11, Wallen announced that his second album would be a double album titled Dangerous: The Double Album, set for release on January 8, 2021.[19] Wallen announced the release date for the album as an Easter egg in the short film for "7 Summers".
Dangerous: The Double Album debuted atop the US Billboard 200 and Canadian Albums Chart.[20][21] It would remain atop both charts for four consecutive weeks, marking the first new album from a male country artist to do that in the U.S. since Alan Jackson's Drive in 2002.[22][23] Wallen also became the first artist to ever chart six songs within the Top 10 of Hot Country Songs at the same time in the week after his album's release with "Wasted on You", "More Than My Hometown", "Somebody's Problem", "7 Summers", "Sand in My Boots", and "Warning".[24] Wallen also charted 23 tracks from the album on the Canadian Hot 100,[25] and 19 tracks on the Hot 100 in the U.S., including "Cover Me Up" and "This Bar".[26]
In May 2020, Wallen was arrested outside Kid Rock's bar in downtown Nashville for public intoxication and disorderly conduct.[27][28] Wallen apologized stating he and his friends "didn't mean any harm".[29]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Wallen received backlash on social media after videos emerged of him partying at a bar in Tuscaloosa, Alabama,[30] a week before his scheduled debut on Saturday Night Live on October 10, 2020; Wallen was shown maskless, violating social distancing recommendations, and kissing college-age women.[31][32][33] On October 7, Wallen announced that the producers of SNL had postponed his appearance for violating the show's COVID-19 protocols and was replaced with American singer-songwriter Jack White.[30] Wallen appeared as musical guest on the December 5 episode. He appeared in a sketch that poked fun at the controversy.[34][35]
On February 2, 2021, TMZ posted a video clip (recorded on January 31) showing Wallen using the word "nigger" with friends as they were entering his Nashville home.[36] Following backlash on the internet, Wallen admitted to using the racial slur and posted an apology.[37] SiriusXM Satellite Radio, iHeartRadio, Entercom, and Cumulus Media, issued directives to their stations to remove Wallen's music from airplay. Wallen's songs and promotional photographs were removed from Apple Music, Pandora and Spotify playlists.[38][39] The following day, CMT and the Country Music Association announced the removal of Wallen's appearances from all of their platforms, and Wallen's record label Big Loud (and partner Republic Records) suspended its recording contract with him indefinitely.[40][41][42][43][44] On February 3, 2021, the Academy of Country Music announced that Wallen and his latest album Dangerous: The Double Album would be ineligible for the 56th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards.[45]
Year | Association | Category | Nominated Work | Result | Ref. |
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2019 | CMT Music Awards | Breakthrough Video of the Year | "Whiskey Glasses" | Nominated | [46] |
Country Music Association Awards | New Artist of the Year | Himself | Nominated | [47] | |
2020 | Academy of Country Music Awards | New Male Artist of the Year | Himself | Nominated | [48] |
Country Music Association Awards | New Artist of the Year | Himself | Won | ||
iHeartRadio Music Awards | Country Song of The Year | "Whiskey Glasses" | Nominated | ||
Best New Country Artist | Himself | Won | |||
Billboard Music Awards | Top Country Song | "Whiskey Glasses" | Nominated | ||
Top Country Album | If I Know Me | Nominated | |||
CMT Music Awards | Male Video of the Year | "Chasin You' (Dream Video)" | Nominated | ||
American Music Awards | Favorite Male Artist-Country | Himself | Nominated | ||
Favorite Album-Country | If I Know Me | Nominated |
Presented content of the Wikipedia article was extracted in 2021-02-10 based on https://en.wikipedia.org/?curid=53862430