Morgan Wallen

Morgan Wallen may be one of the biggest stars in country music and beyond, but the chart-topping singer-songwriter is from the tiniest of towns, hailing from Sneedville, Tennessee, pop. 1,282. With a voice steeped in Appalachian smoke, country is practically Wallen’s birthright, as he grew up singing harmonies with his sisters in the church where their father preached. By 2014, he’d managed to get onto and eliminated from The Voice, but not before showing an innate versatility and relaxed style. His breakthrough came with 2017’s “Up Down,” a Southern-rock spring break anthem that radiated frosty-can cool with help from Florida Georgia Line. But his 2018 debut, If I Know Me, proved Wallen could ride solo on cleverly written everyman hits like “Whiskey Glasses,” a honky-tonk heartbreak sing-along about getting over your blues with something a little stronger than beer goggles. As easy as his country goes down, Wallen stays committed to exploring interesting new directions. In 2019, he converted “Cover Me Up,” the signature song of anti-bro Jason Isbell, into a hymn of support for returning veterans. In 2020, he not only held down “Heartless,” Diplo’s EDM foray into the Wild West, but dropped “7 Summers,” a soft-focus Eagles-style ballad about a boy who lost a girl because he wouldn’t leave his East Tennessee home. These hits were part of the blockbuster breakthrough Dangerous: The Double Album, which turned Wallen into the defining country star of the 21st century. Wallen’s third album, the sprawling, 36-track One Thing at a Time, arrived in 2023, bringing with it the massive single “Last Night.” His first Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 song, that tune spent a whopping 16 weeks at the top. Wallen joined pal Post Malone on “I Had Some Help,” a smash off Posty’s 2024 debut country album F-1 Trillion. And in 2025, Wallen dropped his biggest—and longest—album to date, the 37-track I’m the Problem, which includes collaborations with Tate McRae, Post Malone, and Eric Church.