How a Disastrous Concert Paved the Way for Morgan Wallen’s Diamond Hit, ‘Heartless’ - and a Whole New Genre

“Rough diamonds may sometimes be mistaken for worthless pebbles”.

Back in 2019, Morgan Wallen teamed up with global chart-topping DJ, Diplo, for the snarling, simmering ‘Heartless’. At the time, it was the biggest song of Wallen’s career, and remains one of his most streamed songs today.

Just this month, ‘Heartless’ went Diamond, as Wallen became the highest certified country artist in American history. The song arguably introduced Wallen to a mainstream audience, and paved the way for the superstardom he now enjoys. Crucially, it was also one of the very first songs to be referred to as ‘YeeDM’.

For the uninitiated, YeeDM is the witty name given to the increasingly popular sub-genre of country-EDM, which finds galvanising, synth-based instrumentals and seismic drums colliding with honeyed drawls and small-town vignettes. Now, YeeDM is more popular than ever, courtesy of club-ready earworms such as Marshmello and Kane Brown’s ‘Miles On It’ and country-curious DJs like Brandi Cyrus.

There’s no question that ‘Heartless’ has helped colour today’s YeeDM wave, and it often feels like most of Music City is just waiting to see what Wallen does next, so they can plan their next move accordingly. But to uncover the origins of YeeDM, we have to look to another genre-blending innovator: Avicii.

Back in 2013, around six years before Diplo decided to scratch the country itch he’d been feeling and link up with Morgan Wallen, EDM pioneer Avicii stunned the world at Ultra Music Festival in Miami. After the set opener - the smash hit, ‘Levels’, which was permeated by the thumping beats, electrifying synths and soaring hooks the crowd expected - the Swedish DJ shut everything down. The lights went dark, the speakers were silenced and murmurs of confusion spread through the crowd.

As the audience wondered if there had been a technical issue, Aloe Blacc emerged on-stage, followed by a banjo-player, two acoustic guitarists and country singer-songwriter, Mac Davis, to debut ‘Wake Me Up’. It was a disaster, with the crowd booing and jeering this left-field, twang-laden bolt-from-the-blue. Later in his divisive set, Avicii teamed up with bluegrass icon, Dan Tyminski, for ‘Hey Brother’.

The concert was subsequently ridiculed and mocked across the internet, with most commentators at the time deeming this fiddle-riddled departure from his earlier sound to be the end of Avicii’s career.

Ultimately, of course, it was the opposite. ‘Wake Me Up’ and ‘Hey Brother’ went on to become two of the biggest dance hits of all time, with the former currently sitting on 2.6 billion streams on Spotify alone. In 2023, ‘Wake Me Up’ became the first dance song in history to be certified Diamond. It was a bold, unthinkable move for a DJ to eschew his traditional show packed with histrionics, electronic instrumentals and dazzling lights, in favour of taking a risk with a live, country-leaning set.

That was the moment when YeeDM was born, with Avicii obliterating the walls that stood between country and EDM - two genres that previously seemed acres apart. It’s worth bearing in mind the fact that, when Avicii took the stage at Ultra Music Festival on March 22nd, 2013, Florida Georgia Line’s ‘Cruise’ was at the top of the Billboard Country Airplay Charts, and the muscled-up, ball-cap-wearing Bro-Country was sweeping through Nashville. But Avicii didn’t go looking for a radio-friendly country collaboration - he layered his electronic sound atop rousing bluegrass arrangements.

Later in his career, Avicii went on to work with Zac Brown Band on a number of occasions, producing two euphoric crossover hits, ‘Broken Arrows’ and ‘Beautiful Drug’. This seemingly inspired Brown to venture into the EDM and House space, through both his solo career and Sir Rosevelt side-projects.

While YeeDM was growing organically, country music’s recent explosion in popularity has led to a smattering of releases that feel like superficial attempts to jump on the bandwagon, rather than expressions of artistic curiosity. It’s therefore apt that this year, at a time when many seem to have forgotten that it was Avicii’s fearless, trailblazing performance in 2013 that paved the way for today’s country-EDM trend, the late Swedish DJ’s estate released a never-heard-before country collaboration with Elle King, ‘Let’s Ride Away’, co-written by Kacey Musgraves, as part of the Avicii Forever compilation album.

This doesn’t diminish the role of Diplo and Morgan Wallen’s ‘Heartless’ as a catalyst that accelerated the YeeDM surge. But it’s Avicii’s cleaner, uplifting and melodic sound that is being used by today’s up-and-comers, such as MC4D and VAVO, rather than the angsty, R&B-infused ambience of ‘Heartless’.

MC4D, in particular, regularly name-check Avicii in their viral TikTok snippets, teasing new music with captions such as, “Avicii & Zach Bryan never got to make a song, but why does this sound just like if they had?” Just last month, MC4D released a star-studded collaboration with Aloe Blacc, directly inspired by ‘Wake Me Up’.

The duo introduce one clip with the cri-de-coeur, “I know Avicii paved the way, but it’s time we bring folk back into dance music”. Even Shaboozey seemingly agrees, as you can hear hints of Avicii’s signature synths in his 2024 hit, ‘Good News’, when the folk-driven anthem morphs into a full-blown house instrumental.

Similarly, throughout the rollout for his viral Jelly Roll duet, ‘Bloodline’, Alex Warren made a point of paying homage to Avicii’s influence, with the ’Ordinary’ hitmaker endearingly sharing, “I’m out here trying to make Avicii proud with this one”. And it looks like there’s more on the horizon - in May, Morgan Wallen outlined to Theo Von his plan to one day make a house record.

As more country songs receive YeeDM remixes and as artists continue to dip their toes into the blossoming sub-genre, it will no doubt evolve far beyond the blueprints of both ‘Wake Me Up’ and ‘Heartless’.

But in a genre that often feels obsessively committed to honouring its forefathers, at a time when YeeDM is flourishing and Nashville-inspired crossovers are starting to feel a little trite, it’s interesting to recognise the creative desire that underpinned Avicii’s foray into country music. Ultimately, without Avicii dexterously crafting the springboard, ‘Heartless’ would never have taken flight, and YeeDM wouldn’t be the popular force it is today.

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