“I’m proud that Morgan has had problems”: Morgan Wallen shares touching letter from his father

Morgan Wallen has used his voice to take ownership of his behaviour of late in his all-encompassing I’m The Problem album, released in May 2025. Whilst fans have continued to listen to his message, there has been one thing they’ve been holding out for…a mystery letter from his dad.

Wallen first referenced the elusive letter from his father in May last year during his interview with Apple Music’s Kelleigh Bannen, shortly before the arrival of I’m The Problem. Since then, fans have been on tenterhooks as to when they might get their hands on this piece of inspiration. Thankfully, in November, Wallen’s official fanclub, Club Wallen, announced that the ‘12-week Billboard number 1 album’ was now available as a Limited Edition CD Zine (it’s pronounced zeen, in case you were wondering…) It included interviews and articles by Wallen and collaborators, song lyrics, never-before-seen photos and, of course, the heavily anticipated letter from his dad.

The letter came about when Wallen asked his dad - a respected Tennessee pastor - to contribute to the album release. The ‘Whiskey Glasses’ crooner wanted something to commemorate the special limited edition promotion, “I’ve never had a book like this or anything for an album release,” said Wallen, reflecting on his father’s addition during Bannen’s interview, “He did better than I even thought he would”.

Famously private and not hugely active on socials - a round of golf here, a hunting trip there - Wallen doesn’t generally share much of his personal life. Giving fans this insight into his paternal relationship, particularly while he navigates his own path as a father, adds another level of humility to this body of work. It reminds us all that he’s just a person, at the end of the day, trying to figure it all out.  Like he sings in ‘Revelation’, “I’m a father and a son who needs that Holy Ghost”.

Wallen’s dad, Tommy, references the two main struggles that he has watched his son work through - his dream-crushing injury that put an end to professional sports and his departure from the hit show, The Voice.

But Wallen is tenacious and Tommy has been right there watching him pick himself back up and come back fighting. “I followed him to Nashville in a tiny U-Haul truck to drop him off for another try at that same dream - and you all probably know the rest.”

And the rest, we do know, as Wallen was recently became the first male country artist in 30 years to be announced as Billboard’s Artist of the Year (2025) and RIAA’s number 1 certified country artist in history.

With that in mind, Tommy wrote, “Success doesn’t get rid of all your problems…it takes a lot to admit that you might be one of those problems. It’s what you do about those problems that really matters. I’m proud that Morgan has had problems in his life. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be the man he is today. But I'm even more proud of what he’s done with them”.

We’re kind of proud of him, too. But we’d be even prouder if he finally treats us to that deluxe album he's been teasing...

Read Tommy Wallen’s letter in full below:

“I must have been on the road when I first heard Morgan on the radio. No matter where I drive today, it doesn’t take long before he pops up on a country station. With this fourth studio album on the books, Morgan has, by all means, made it.

With that success, he’s taken me and our family to some amazing places. Just this past year, we were at a concert in London, watching the show from a private suite. The room was full of people, and after the band played their last song, everybody filtered out, leaving Morgan and me in that big room alone. Instead of joining the others and going to the party right away, Morgan took a moment, knelt down, and started picking up trash—and that made me smile. My son has become a man, far from the boy I used to hear strumming songs in our garage on my grandfather’s hand-me-down guitar, but he hasn’t lost his way.

I’ve seen Morgan go through a lot since he was a kid. The first big problem I saw him face was an injury that dashed any hope of him playing college baseball. I watched him overcome that, only to have another dream put on hold after getting voted off The Voice. I followed him to Nashville in a tiny U-Haul truck to drop him off for another try at that same dream—and you all probably know the rest.

But along Morgan’s journey, I’ve also seen how success doesn’t get rid of all your problems, no matter how big that success is. It takes a lot to admit that you might be one of those problems. I know because, at a tougher time in my life, I had to say the same thing to myself.

I’ve also seen a lot of people in that position, through my work as a pastor, at the moment they realize they may have ruined everything they’d worked so hard for. It’s what you do about those problems that really matters, though. I’m proud that Morgan has had problems in his life. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be the man he is today. But I’m even more proud of what he’s done with them”.

Morgan Wallen's I'm the Problem CD & Zine is available via his official US store.

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