Morgan Wallen’s arrest in Nashville for allegedly throwing a chair off the rooftop of Eric Church’s Chief’s bar on Broadway isn’t the “Chasin’ You” singer’s first brush with the law.
Wallen, 30, was charged with three felony counts by the Metro Nashville Police Department after Sunday night’s incident, when a chair landed on Broadway near two police officers after being thrown from the sixth story.
“At 10:53 p.m. Sunday evening, Morgan Wallen was arrested in downtown Nashville for reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct. He is cooperating fully with authorities,” Wallen’s attorney, Worrick Robinson, told Fox News Digital.
With a string of shows still on his schedule, including a headlining gig later this month at the Stagecoach Music Festival, it’s not immediately clear how this latest arrest will affect Wallen’s career. But the country crooner is known for rebounding in his own way.
Morgan’s debut studio album, “If I Know Me,” was released in April 2018 and went certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
The album reached No. 1 on the top country charts with multiple singles receiving mainstream success. Two of the songs reached the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100, and he earned the award for best new country artist of the year at the Country Music Association Awards and iHeart Music Awards.
The “Whiskey Glasses” crooner was arrested in May 2020 after being kicked out of Kid Rock’s bar in downtown Nashville. After reportedly refusing to walk away with his friends when given the opportunity by police, authorities determined Wallen was “a danger to himself and the public” and took him into custody.
Country artist Morgan Wallen, 30, was booked early today on 3 cts of felony reckless endangerment and 1 ct of misdemeanor disorderly conduct for throwing a chair from the rooftop of Chief's Bar Sun night. The chair landed on Broadway, close to 2 MNPD officers. His bond: $15,250. pic.twitter.com/6gRZKI3pWl
— Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) April 8, 2024
Two months later, Wallen celebrated a personal milestone when he became a first-time father and welcomed son Indigo Wilder with his ex, KT Smith.
“Little Wilder, I’m a changed man. Since you came into the world Friday, I see mine differently now,” Wallen wrote, in part, on Instagram.
Roughly seven months into the pandemic, Wallen was asked to be the musical guest on an October episode of “Saturday Night Live.” Days before he was scheduled to perform, footage went viral across social media showing Morgan engaged in non-COVID-compliant behavior at an Alabama football game and celebrating at a bar afterward.
He was immediately removed from the scheduled “SNL” appearance. Wallen apologized in a video shared online.
“I’m in New York City in a hotel room, I was getting ready for ‘SNL’ this Saturday, and I got a call from the show letting me know that I will no longer be able to play,” he explained. “That’s because of COVID protocols, which I understand.”
After apologizing, he added, “I think I’ve lost myself a little bit. I’ve tried to find joy in the wrong places, and it’s left me with less joy. So I’mma go try to work on that. I’m gonna take a step back from the spotlight for a while and go work on myself.”
Two months later, Wallen was invited back to 30 Rockefeller Plaza for a second chance on “Saturday Night Live.” He not only performed, but also poked fun at his bar antics while appearing in a sketch with Pete Davidson, Jason Bateman and Bowen Yang.
When the episode was over, he thanked the audience for “giving this poor Southern boy a second Yankee chance.”
His second studio album, “Dangerous: The Double Album,” was released in January 2021 and became so popular it earned the all-time record for longest period in the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s country albums chart.
He recorded the album during the beginning of the pandemic and kept writing music to include on the record. One month after its release, Morgan found himself in his biggest controversy to date.
In February 2021, a video surfaced showing Wallen using a racial slur while walking home with a group of friends. The “Wasted on You” singer referred to one of his friends with the N-word and used other profanities.
Shortly after the incident, he issued an apology.
“I’m embarrassed and sorry,” Wallen said in a statement shared with Fox News. “I used an unacceptable and inappropriate racial slur that I wish I could take back. There are no excuses to use this type of language, ever. I want to sincerely apologize for using the word. I promise to do better.”
The backlash was swift online and from within the country music industry. While he was nominated for multiple Academy of Country Music Awards, he was not included in the ceremony. The ACM announced it had barred Wallen’s “potential involvement and eligibility from the 56th Academy of Country Music Awards cycle.”
His music was banned from iHeartRadio, and he was dropped from his label, but his fan base stuck with him, and “Dangerous” continued to break records.
Slowly, but surely, the industry welcomed Wallen back, too, after the release of “Sand in My Boots” in August 2021.
Wallen had another mishap last spring as he embarked on the One Night at a Time World Tour in support of his third studio album. Minutes before he was due to step on stage in Mississippi, Wallen canceled the show after losing his voice.
More bad news was on the way for Wallen fans 10 days later, when he announced he was forced to cancel six weeks of shows on doctors’ orders due to a vocal cord injury. After recovering, he made it up to the fans just as he promised and rescheduled the missed tour dates.
Wallen made headlines again during his One Night at a Time Tour 2024 kickoff tour date in Indianapolis Sunday, when he made a joke about Taylor Swift that got a big reaction from the crowd.
According to a fan video on TikTok, Wallen said, “This is the single most attended concert in the history of this building, and we’re the first to do it for two nights in a row.
“I’m going to say that until Taylor Swift comes to town in the fall,” he added jokingly. Some fans cheered at the mention of Swift, but there was a noticeable and vocal contingent booing her.
Wallen made it clear his joke was in good fun, telling the crowd, “We ain’t gotta boo, we ain’t gotta boo.”
Despite losing out on a CMT Music Award Sunday night and the subsequent arrest, Wallen was nominated for six ACM Awards Tuesday, including album of the year for “One Thing At A Time,” which spent 18 weeks at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart. It also tied Garth Brooks’ “Ropin’ the Wind” with the most weeks at No. 1 for a country album.
