Who is Morgan Wallen, Country artist leading Billboard Hot 100
What's the story
Country singer-songwriter Morgan Wallen consolidated his position at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart with his single track Last Night for a fourth week.
The song first ruled the charts in March and its continued success is a testament to its popularity among listeners.
Here's everything about Wallen who became the country artist with the most career entries in the Hot 100.
Album records
'One Thing at a Time': Largest streaming debut in 2023
Wallen's album, One Thing at a Time, released in March 2023, broke streaming records on its first release day.
With 52.29M streams on March 3, Wallen's 36-song album—with songs like Last Night—became Spotify's most-streamed country album in a single day.
His 2021 release—Dangerous: The Double Album, was the third most-streamed album in the US in 2022, just behind Bad Bunny and Harry Styles.
Career
Wallen is massively popular among some, meanwhile, unheard by others
Wallen's popularity scenario is similar to Paramount's Yellowstone drama series—the most popular show in small markets or segments in the US.
"I'm just a normal small-town kid who doesn't have a clue how to get into music—other than this," elaborated the 20-year-old Wallen, who gained recognition by appearing in The Voice in 2014.
Wallen released his debut album, If I Know Me in 2018.
Life
Early life
The 29-year-old country artist grew up in Sneedville, Tennessee, an isolated town located near the Virginia border.
As a young boy, Wallen took violin lessons which were shortly interfered with by his family's shift to Knoxville, where his interests in radio-friendly rock bands like Breaking Benjamin and Nickleback piqued.
"Once I started writing songs, it just naturally sounded country," told Wallen in an interview.
Controversy
He has a controversial reputation, too
In 2021, Wallen, in an inebriated condition, was seen shouting a racial slur used against black people outside his Tennessee house.
This video came mere months after the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.
After the video went viral, his label put him on indefinite hiatus.
Moreover, he was disqualified from the 2021 Grammys and the Academy of Country Music Awards.
Achievements
Wallen received the Academy of Country Music award in 2022
Even though Wallen's reputation was tainted by the controversy, for which the singer later apologized in a self-filmed video, his commercial base remained intact.
Meanwhile, in 2022, Wallen was awarded the Album of the Year by the Academy of Country Music Awards.
Currently, Wallen's single track Last Night, off his recently released album, drew 47.7M radio airplay audience impressions, according to Luminate.
Twitter Post
A look at his announcement post of the 2023 album
March 3.
— morgan wallen (@MorganWallen) January 30, 2023
Wallen 3.
36 New Songs.
“One Thing At A Time” - MW
This announcement has been a long time coming. I’m releasing my album pre-order tonight!! And releasing 3 new songs to celebrate - “Last Night”, “Everything I Love” and “I Wrote The Book”. pic.twitter.com/ktGWQudobh