Morgan Wallen reflected on a tumultuous two years as he sat down to recount the good, the bad and the ugly in a recent interview with Billboard Magazine. The conversation marks his first major outlet interview since a video emerged of him casually using a racial slur in 2021 among friends.
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The viral video, captured by one of Wallen’s neighbors, rocked his career in the worst way possible as he experienced immediate consequences. As a result of the video, Wallen was suspended from his label, his music was pulled from radio stations nationwide, and he was deemed ineligible for a number of awards he’s regularly considered for.
"There’s no excuse. I’ve never made an excuse. I never will make an excuse,” Wallen told Billboard of the language he used that night. The 30-year-old shared he’s used the experience to work on himself and educate himself on different cultures and understand his privilege.
“I’ve talked to a lot of people, heard stories [about] things that I would have never thought about because I wasn’t the one going through it,” he expressed. “I think, for me, in my heart I was never that guy that people were portraying me to be, so there was a little bit of like, ‘Damn, I’m kind of actually mad about this a little bit because I know I shouldn’t have said this, but I’m really not that guy.’"
He continued, “I put myself in just such a s*** spot, you know? Like, ‘You really messed up here, guy.’ If I was that guy, then I wouldn’t have cared. I wouldn’t have apologized. I wouldn’t have done any of that if I really was that guy that people were saying about me."
Several of Wallen’s fans continued to back Wallen’s music as they too, knew he wasn’t “that guy.” Thanks to his fans, Wallen has regained massive momentum in his career and is now, undoubtedly one of the most successful Country artists of our time.
In 2023, Wallen achieved unprecedented chart success with his hit single, "Last Night," and smash album, One Thing At A Time, which topped the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard 200 albums charts, respectively, for 16 non-consecutive weeks each. His tour earned over $300 million, making it the top-grossing Country music tour ever reported to Billboard Boxscore.
"When I started doing this, I had no intentions or expectations of becoming that guy,” he said of his success. “But yeah, I’m definitely proud of it. Especially when people say to me that they never liked Country music before, and now it’s their favorite."
It’s clear Morgan has captured many fans with his musical abilities and some of those fans are fellow Country artists. "Morgan is a world-class songwriter, singer, and performer,” said Country megastar, Luke Bryan. “His ability to relate to fans by way of introducing new songs by performing them on socials was truly a brilliant way to build his career."
Added Miranda Lambert, "There’s a level of conversation Morgan brings to a song that makes him such a strong writer; you immediately feel invested in the story."
CEO and partner of Morgan’s label [Big Loud], Seth England also had some big compliments to dish out on Wallen’s sound comparing him to one of the biggest musicians worldwide, Drake.
“Drake can do a hardcore R&B song, a trap rap song, or a Caribbean-tinged beat global pop song. I think Morgan is that in our genre,” said England.
“His voice is always going to be Country even if he’s singing Pop melodies, and the verses are likely to have some Country imagery. But when it’s time to sing the big runs and melodies, the guy can do it. Even though he’s got a lot of older fans, he’s certainly got the young kids just wrapped around the sound right now. I don’t think that’s just a short-term thing. I think the guy’s got the ability to do that for decades to come.”
Read more from Wallen’s interview with Billboard here.