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Hailing from Sneedville, Tennessee, Morgan Cole Wallen has quickly become one of the most decorated artists in modern country. Since appearing on Season 6 of The Voice, Wallen's rise to country's upper echelons has been meteoric - but one that has not been without its fair share of controversies, which have at times threatened to transform this unprecedented ascent into a tumultuous collision course.
After being voted out of The Voice during the playoffs in 2014, Wallen released his Stand Alone EP, which paved the way for a recording contract with Big Loud Records. Following this, Morgan Wallen's 2018 debut album, If I Know Me, spawned hits such as ‘Chasin' You’, ‘Whiskey Glasses’ and the rowdy, party-starting Florida Georgia Line collaboration, ‘Up Down’. If I Know Me helped to solidify Wallen's mercurial blending of lyrical, lovelorn balladry with his playful, down-home charm.
Wallen's sonic dirt-road was concretised in January 2021 when he released Dangerous: The Double Album. Totalling 30 songs, the project capitalised on the songwriting prowess of Wallen himself, alongside frequent collaborators such as HARDY, Ernest and Ben Burgess. Numerous songs from the album have since gone multi-platinum, such as ‘More Than My Hometown’, ‘Wasted On You’, ‘7 Summers’ and ‘Sand In My Boots’.
In February that year, Wallen was suspended from his label after being filmed using a racial slur. This followed a series of controversies in 2020, which included Wallen being arrested for public intoxication and disorderly conduct, as well as being dropped from Saturday Night Live after violating social distancing guidelines.
Dangerous: The Double Album went on to break a number of records, becoming the longest-running top ten album on the Billboard 200 since the chart began. The project has also spent more time at Number One on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart than any any other album in the chart's history.
In 2022, Morgan Wallen won the ACM Award for Album of the Year, which built on the success of his 2021 Billboard Music Awards for Top Country Artist and Top Country Album. Wallen is also a past recipient of the CMA New Artist of the Year.
In October 2022, Wallen wrapped up his country-spanning Dangerous tour, during the course of which the Tennessee hitmaker played to over 800,000 fans. As he closed out his final show, his 2022 single, ‘You Proof’, was confirmed as his seventh Number One at country radio.
On March 3 2023, Morgan Wallen released his new album, One Thing At A Time, featuring hit singles such as ‘Thought You Should Know’, ‘Last Night’ and more. The 36-song project continues to set new streaming records, and is being accompanied by 2023 world tour, which will take Wallen across the US, Australia, New Zealand and the UK.
Cody Johnson, Cole Swindell and Luke Combs were the other big winners among the 2023 ceremony's country contingent.
HARDY, Lainey Wilson, Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood, Kane Brown and Katelyn Brown are also still in contention for the Texas ceremony's biggest prize.
They'll be joined by HARDY, Ernest and Bailey Zimmerman at Topgolf The Colony on May 10.
All 36 songs from the new project currently sit inside the Billboard Hot 100.
The Sneedville native currently has more simultaneous entries on the Hot 100 than any other artist in the chart's history.
The Sneedville megastar recently released his brand new album, One Thing At A Time.