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1993 – present
Who is Morgan Wallen?
Morgan Wallen is a Grammy-nominated country singer known for hits like "You Proof," "Last Night," and "I Had Some Help," a collaboration with Post Malone. Wallen first gained attention while appearing on The Voice show« in 2014. Since then, his music has gained immense popularity: his 2021 album «"Dangerous: The Double Album"» reached No. 1 on both the Billboard 200 and Top Country Albums charts. At one point, he simultaneously occupied half of the top 10 tracks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with songs from his 2023 album. «One Thing at a Time »"—something only five other artists, including Taylor Swift and The Beatles, have achieved. Wallen's fourth album, «I'm the Problem» , released in May 2025, became his third consecutive chart-topping album. The Tennessee native has also made headlines for controversial off-stage behavior, including two convictions for endangering life and limb.
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: Morgan Cole Wallen DATE OF BIRTH: May 13, 1993 PLACE OF BIRTH: Sneedville, Tennessee CHILD: Indigo ZODIAC SIGN: Taurus
Where is Morgan Wallen from?
Morgan Cole Wallen was born on May 13, 1993, in Sneedville, Tennessee, to Tommy and Leslie Wallen. He has three younger sisters: Ashlyn, Michaela, and Lacey, whom Tommy and Leslie adopted in 2021. The family later moved to nearby Knoxville when Morgan was a freshman in high school.
At age three, Morgan began singing at a local Baptist church in the southern United States, where Tommy served as pastor. He later sang in three-part harmony with Ashlyna and Michaela. For Christmas at age five, he received a violin and began taking lessons. As a child, Morgan also played and practiced the piano. His father, a rock 'n' roll fan, introduced him to artists such as Lynyrd Skynyrd, Fleetwood Mac, and The Eagles.
However, Morgan initially believed baseball was his path. Playing for Gibbs High School in Knoxville, where Kenny Chesney also graduated, he became a star at shortstop and pitcher. During a game his senior year, he suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament (ULC), requiring surgery. Following the injury, colleges lost interest, and Morgan took several months off after graduating in 2011 to consider his future. "I prayed and tried to figure out what my plan and purpose was. So I started writing songs and playing guitar, just to express my feelings," Wallen told LancasterOnline in 2017.
Morgan began his music career performing for his mother and friends, who told him he had talent. However, it was his participation in a popular reality show that truly prepared him for success.
Participant of the show «"Voice"»
Morgan Wallen performs during her blind audition for the judges on the NBC singing competition «"Voice"» . (Photo: Getty Images)
In 2014, Wallen boarded a plane for the first time to fly to Los Angeles and audition for the sixth season of the popular singing competition The Voice on NBC. He performed Howie Day's 2003 pop hit "Collide" and impressed celebrity judges Shakira and Usher. "I think there's no voice like yours on radio today—that's why I turned [my chair] around," Shakira told him. "It's the most masculine voice possible." Wallen chose Usher as his mentor.
Wallen advanced through the first and second rounds of the battles, performing Avicii's "Hey Brother" and One Direction's "Story of My Life." Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine even recruited Wallen to join his team. However, Wallen was eliminated in the knockout stage.
However, the experience increased his profile and allowed Wallen to make valuable connections in the industry. He also focused on country music as the genre that suited him best. "It probably wasn't the biggest influence on me musically," he told the magazine. The New Yorker in 2020. "But once I started writing songs, they started sounding like country. And I thought, 'Well, I guess I'll sing country because that's the life I know.'".
Songs and albums
After participating in The Voice show« Wallen moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to advance his career. He formed a temporary group called Morgan Wallen & Them Shadows with Serg Sanchez of Atom Smash. Sanchez introduced Wallen to executives at Panacea Records, who signed the artist in 2015 and financed an EP titled Stand Alone and the single "Spin You Around".
In August 2016, Big Loud Records announced the signing of then 23-year-old Wallen, who continued his collaboration with music producer Joey Moi. That same year, Wallen released his debut single for the label, "The Way I Talk.".
Debut album and song "Whiskey Glasses"«
Then, in April 2018, his debut studio album,« If I Know Me» . It reached the top 20 on the Billboard 200 and included the songs "Up Down" featuring Florida Georgia Line and "Whiskey Glasses." The latter reached number one on the Country Airplay chart and peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2019, becoming his biggest success to date. That same year, Wallen toured with Florida Georgia Line. When the Country Music Association named Wallen "New Artist of the Year" at the CMA Awards in November 2020, it cemented his status as one of the genre's rising stars.
Dangerous: Double Album
Wallen's popularity continued to grow with the release of his second studio album. Dangerous: The Double Album in January 2021. The release debuted at number one and had the highest weekly streaming figures of any country album, according to Billboard . It included songs such as "7 Summers" and "Wasted on You", which reached numbers 6 and 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Album Dangerous proved to be very popular: in September 2022, it spent consecutive weeks in the Billboard 200 top ten (with breaks)—a record. The previous record belonged to Peter, Paul & Mary, and dates back to the early 1960s, when their self-titled album also charted highly.
«"Last night" and one case at a time
Morgan Wallen performs at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards in May. (Photo: Getty Images)
Wallen had no intention of resting on the album's success. Dangerous . In May 2022, he released the single "You Proof." The song became Wallen's highest-charting hit to date, reaching number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Thought You Should Know" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 the same month and peaked at number 7 nearly a year later.
By that time, Wallen had already released his 36-track album. «One Thing at a Time» and embarked on a 65-date world tour, which was interrupted while the singer recovered from a vocal cord injury. The album, released in March 2023, was an immediate success, quickly topping the Billboard 200 and propelling "Last Night" to number one on the singles chart. Four more songs—"You Proof," "Thought You Should Know," "Thinkin' Bout Me," and the title track—all simultaneously entered the top 10, accounting for half of Wallen's success. Only Taylor Swift, The Beatles, 21 Savage, Drake, and Juice WRLD had previously achieved this feat.
It's no surprise that in May 2023, Wallen won the Academy of Country Music Award for Male Artist of the Year. A few months later, in September, he was nominated for three CMA Awards: Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, and Album of the Year for One Thing at a Time , but left the ceremony empty-handed. However, Wallen ended the year on a positive note when Spotify announced that "Last Night" and One Thing at a Time became the platform's most-streamed song and album in the US in 2023.
In April 2024, Wallen began an extension of his One Night at a Time world tour, which had begun the previous year and lasted several months. He also received six ACM Award nominations, including Artist of the Year, Best Male Artist, Album of the Year, and Single of the Year. Wallen's award drought continued at the ceremony the following month.
In September 2024, Wallen was nominated for seven CMA Awards, winning most of them for his hit collaboration with Post Malone on "I Had Some Help." The chart-topping track was nominated for Song of the Year, Single of the Year, Musical Event of the Year, and Music Video of the Year. Although Wallen did not win any of these awards, he was awarded the evening's top prize, Artist of the Year. This broke a losing streak that began in 2020.
The song "I Had Some Help" brought Wallen even more recognition, receiving two Grammy Award nominations in 2025: Best Country Song and Best Country Duo/Group Performance. These are the first Grammy nominations of Wallen's career.
The problem is me.
In addition to the duet with Post Malone, the country star has released six songs ahead of the release of his fourth album. I'm the Problem . "Love Somebody" became his third number-one hit on the Hot 100. Meanwhile, "Lies Lies Lies" became Wallen's fifth song to top the chart. Billboard Country Airplay in 2024, setting a new record for most hits in a single year.
Album I'm the Problem Released on May 16, 2025, it features 37 tracks, including the popular duet "What I Want" with Tate MacRae. The album spent its first eight weeks at number one, and as of June 9, 2026, it has spent a total of 13 weeks on the mainstream albums chart. Wallen currently ranks fourth among male solo artists whose albums have collectively spent the most weeks at number one on the Billboard 200. With 42 weeks, he follows in the footsteps of Elvis Presley, Garth Brooks, and Michael Jackson.
Listen I'm the Problem on Apple Music, Spotify and Amazon Music.
Among all artists since 2000, only Taylor Swift's albums—with a staggering 86 weeks—have spent longer at No. 1 than Wallen's.
Also in August 2025, news broke that Wallen had decided not to submit the album or any of its songs for consideration at the 2026 Grammy Awards. The musician and his team did not comment on the reasons for this decision.
Wallen is currently on his 2026 Still the Problem Tour, a nod to his album title. The 21-date summer tour features performances by renowned artists such as Hardy, Ella Langley, and Brooks & Dunn.
Buy now
Wallen also launched his own radio station on SiriusXM, Morgan Wallen Radio, featuring the singer's carefully curated music and behind-the-scenes stories. The station gained further public attention when its image appeared on winner Felix Rosenquist's race car at the 2026 Indianapolis 500.
Scandals: Arrests and racist insults
While Wallen has primarily made headlines for his music, the singer has also gained notoriety for several off-stage incidents. In May 2020, he was arrested on charges of public intoxication and disorderly conduct following an incident at a bar and steakhouse owned by Kid Rock in Nashville, Tennessee.
In October 2020, Wallen was scheduled to be the musical guest on an episode of the sketch show «Saturday Night Live» . But just days before the performance, videos surfaced on social media of Wallen drinking shots, kissing fans, and not observing social distancing guidelines after a football game at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Due to show protocols put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, SNL Wallen was replaced by The White Stripes frontman Jack White. Wallen acknowledged his behavior and, two months later, mocked himself and the incident during his rescheduled appearance on the show in a sketch with actor Jason Bateman.
Pete Davidson, Morgan Wallen, Jason Bateman, and Bowen Yang perform a skit during Wallen's appearance on the show. Saturday Night Live in December 2020. (Photo: Getty Images)
Then, in February 2021, TMZ published a video of Wallen calling a friend a "nigga" and using other expletives outside his Nashville home after a party with friends. Wallen quickly apologized for the insult, but some radio stations and streaming services removed him from their playlists. He was also disqualified from the 2021 ACM Awards and temporarily terminated his contract with his label, Big Loud.
In July of that year, Wallen gave his first interview since the incident to the ABC program "« Good morning, America."» and stated that he didn't mean to use the term in a derogatory sense. "I was with a group of friends, and we were saying stupid things. We meant it as a joke. It sounds ignorant, but that's really where it all started. And it's wrong," Wallen said, adding that he and his friends had been drinking before the incident. Wallen said he donated $500,000 from his album sales, which skyrocketed after the backlash, to organizations like the Black Music Action Coalition and spent a month in rehab in San Diego. "I spent some time… you know, just trying to figure out… why am I acting like this? Do I have a drinking problem? Do I have a bigger problem?" he explained.
Wallen was arrested again in April 2024 after allegedly throwing a chair from the roof of a downtown Nashville bar. Nashville police charged the singer with three counts of endangering life or health and one count of disorderly conduct. "I am not proud of my behavior and take responsibility," Wallen later wrote on social media. At a court hearing in mid-December, he pleaded guilty to two reduced charges of endangering life or health as part of a sentencing agreement. The singer was sentenced to seven days in a DUI center and two years of supervised probation, which may be revoked upon completion.
Wallen found himself at the center of an online debate again after he ended his speech on SNL In late March 2025, Wallen abruptly left the stage and walked straight toward the camera. Instead of waiting for the credits to roll and celebrating with the cast onstage, as guest musicians and hosts typically do, Wallen quickly left. He then posted a photo of a private jet on the tarmac to his Instagram story with the caption, "Take me to God's Own Country," without providing any further explanation for his abrupt departure.
During his 2026 tour, Wallen became known for his onstage behavior, including knocking over a faulty piano in anger during a concert in Denver, Colorado, and snatching a cell phone from a security guard and throwing it across the stage during a performance in Pittsburgh on June 5.
The following night, Wallen disappointed fans by canceling the second of two consecutive concerts at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh due to severe weather. While severe storms raged in the surrounding area and caused damage, the stadium itself was largely unscathed. This led some to speculate that the cancellation was related to the phone incident the previous day, but the singer confirmed the weather was the culprit in a post on his Instagram Stories. "The truth is, I have a large stage, and under those conditions, it could have been deadly for a lot of people around me," Wallen said. "So I did the best I could with the information I had at the time.".
Personal life and son
Wallen, who is currently single, had at least one serious relationship with a woman named Katie "KT" Smith. They reportedly began dating in 2017 and their relationship continued on and off until 2019. At one point, Wallen and Smith were engaged but eventually split. They have a son, Indigo.
Indigo, or "Indy," was born in July 2020 in Nashville, Tennessee. Although the singer and Smith had already separated by then, Wallen said they were working hard as part-time parents. His parents also traveled from their home in Tennessee to help care for Indigo. "I just hope to give him the same wise advice my parents gave me, to show him love, and let him know that I'm there for him and that I'm his friend," Wallen told the publication. People in January 2021.
In June 2023, Indigo was taken to the hospital after being bitten in the face by Smith's dog, Legend. He required stitches, but Smith said he was fine and was looking for a new home.
Wallen's son inspired him to create the song "Superman" from the singer's fourth album. «I'm the Problem »Along with a snippet of the song, Wallen wrote on Instagram in February 2025: "I've been trying to write a song I loved for my son for a long time. None of them felt good enough because I really wanted something like this to be perfect. And I'm not saying it's perfect, but I'm really proud of it.".
Following his split from Smith, Wallen secretly dated model and influencer Paige Lorenz beginning in 2021. The couple reportedly split in February 2022, just weeks after announcing their relationship. That same year, the singer briefly dated reality star Kristin Cavallari following her divorce from former NFL player Jay Cutler. Cavallari revealed the news on a podcast. Dumb Blonde .
For much of 2023, rumors swirled that Wallen was dating fellow country singer Megan Moroney. In July of the following year, Moroney finally confirmed that they had dated, but were "never in an exclusive relationship." She said their schedules rarely align, and today they are simply friends.
State
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Wallen's net worth is estimated to be around $35 million as of June 2026.
Quotes
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I always thought I'd have to do odd jobs and live paycheck to paycheck. I didn't know exactly what I'd be doing. I had no idea... Obviously, things are different now.
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I don't often express my feelings in words. Yes, of course, writing songs and singing is practically the only way I can express them.
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I have my little son, I have my family. I don't know, man, I'm doing really well right now, so gratitude is at the top of my vocabulary.
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Awards are great, but the true measure of my success is my fans.
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I just try to tell it like it is – the good and the bad, the love and the heartbreak. That's all I can do.
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