Darius Rucker Calls Morgan Wallen's CMA and ACM Awards Snubs “Crazy”, Says It's Time He's Forgiven

In a recent interview, Darius Rucker touched on a slew of topics ranging from his new memoir, Life's Too Short, to his thoughts on Morgan Wallen continuing to be snubbed at the CMA and ACM Awards, despite the groundbreaking success he's enjoying.

Although nominated for the most coveted accolade of the evening at both the 2023 CMA Awards and the 2024 ACM Awards, Morgan Wallen was overlooked in the Entertainer of the Year category at both ceremonies, with the Sneedville hitmaker yet to win this trophy.

Many view this as a slight, given how Morgan Wallen delivered the highest-grossing country tour of 2023 – raking in a whopping $230 million in total – and the most streamed song and album of the year across all genres, in addition to securing four country radio chart-toppers (including the colossal smash hit, ‘Last Night’).

Some believe this CMA and ACM cold shoulder to be the result of Morgan still being viewed as the ‘bad boy’ of country, due to past controversies including being filmed by his neighbour using a racial slur when addressing his white friend in 2021, and throwing a chair off the rooftop of Eric Church's Chief's bar in Nashville earlier this year.

In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Darius Rucker was asked whether he thinks it's time Morgan Wallen is forgiven by the country music industry, and fans on the whole, “Yeah, I do. I do. I think Morgan’s become a better person since that. I’ve known Morgan a long time. Since all that happened, Morgan’s tried to really better himself and become a better person and see the world in a much better way”.

Darius underlined, “And he’s not forgiven. He’s still not out for CMAs and ACMs. They can say what they want, but the fact that Morgan Wallen is not up for Entertainer of the Year and those things is crazy. Cause no one’s selling more tickets than Morgan”.

Few would argue that the records broken, the streaming numbers posted and the touring sales racked up by Morgan Wallen are enough to have earned him the status of being the favourite when the Entertainer of the Year category has been contested in recent years, with many raising their eyebrows at the fact he is yet to pick up the title.

It certainly feels as though fans have forgiven Morgan Wallen, with the ‘Thought You Should Know’ singer-songwriter's latest release, ’Lies, Lies, Lies’ surging straight to No. 1 on Spotify's ‘Top Songs Debut USA’ chart following its release last Friday (July 5th).

Elsewhere, Darius Rucker appeared to encourage listeners to simplify their approach to choosing which music to listen to and which to steer clear of, rather than getting caught up in the details of whether the artist behind the songs is a good person, “When it comes to listening, I listen to all that stuff. I love Morgan’s records. I get why it’s so big. I love Beyoncé’s record. I love, that new Shaboozey song. But then I also love Jason Aldean. I think his songs are great. I love Luke Bryan. I love Luke Combs. I think he’s amazing. And the one thing I’ve always realized is, you don’t have to like the people making the music to like the music”.

Excitingly, as well as delving into his thoughts on Morgan Wallen, Darius Rucker revealed he's working on his Carolyn's Boy follow-up, “Oh, I’m starting to write another solo record. I’m going to go over to Europe to write with a bunch of people over there when the year turns, and go see what happens with a bunch of country artists and other artists over there. I don’t have a timeline for it, but it’s coming”.

The ‘Beers and Sunshine’ crooner paid tribute to how quickly country music is growing across The Pond, with Darius hinting at a return later this year, “You’d be shocked at how big it’s getting over there. We did it the right way where we went every other year [to play live], basically for the last 16 years. So you know, I’m actually playing the O2 Arena in October over there. It’s growing so much. It’s becoming such a thing”.

Darius Rucker performed at a packed-out Hammersmith Apollo in London, UK earlier in 2024, as part of his hugely popular Starting Fires tour, and his transatlantic fans will be keenly looking forward to him making the trip over again before too long.

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