Wallen has also performed live recently
Morgan Wallen seems to have been quietly reinstated by his record label Big Loud Records. His likeness was recently rediscovered on his label’s website after the company — and its Republic Records partner — “made the decision to suspend Morgan Wallen’s recording contract indefinitely” after being blacklisted by the industry in early February for his use of a racial slur. His profile was swiftly removed from both label’s websites following the news. He still does not appear on Republic Records’ artist roster as of this writing.
Neither Wallen nor his representatives have publicly announced the reinstatement. We have reached out to his reps for clarification and will update this news piece should we receive a response.
In March, many radio stations began quietly reinstating his music to its playlists after a two month boycott. Cumulus Media, iHeartRadio, SiriusXM/Pandora, Apple, Spotify, CMT and other outlets quickly pulled his music following the TMZ video. He was also deemed ineligible for the 2021 Academy of Country Music Awards and Country Music Association Awards (CMA). However, the CMA Board of Directors have voted to amend his eligibility in five categories — Single of the Year, Song of the Year, Album of the Year, Musical Event of the Year and Music Video of the Year — which honor artistic works to not exclude other credited collaborators. He is still deemed ineligible for individual artist categories, according to Music Row.
A week after the incident, Wallen released a video statement saying he’d be taking time away from the spotlight to work on himself. A short time later, Wallen updated fans on his progress with a nearly four page handwritten letter that he shared on social media in which Wallen confirms he will not appear on Luke Bryan’s 2021 Proud To Be Right Here Tour as originally planned.
Earlier this week, Wallen appeared on stage for the first time since the incident. On Wednesday (May 19th), Wallen took the stage at Kid Rock’s Big Ass Honky Tonk bar on Nashville’s Broadway to perform “Wasted On You” and “Whiskey Glasses” before a packed house.
Despite the boycott, Wallen’s sophomore Dangerous: The Double Album broke nearly every record imaginable as his diehard fans pressed back against one of the highest profile cases of cancel culture in 2021. The album spent its first ten consecutive weeks atop of the Billboard 200 chart, breaking a 34 year old record. At least six of the ten chart-topping weeks had been without the help of any promotion.
Upon its release, Wallen demolished first day streaming records, becoming Spotify’s biggest all-time first day stream record for a country album and setting the record for the biggest first day and biggest first week for a country album of all-time at Apple Music in just two days.
Wallen’s music surged by more than 300% in the wake of the controversy as fans clap back at cancel culture. Diehards have flocked to iTunes and other streaming outlets to backlash radio for its stance with many even defending his use of the slur. In recent weeks, fan funded billboards have surfaced throughout Nashville and Los Angeles in support of Wallen, who was disqualified from attending, performing or being nominated by the Academy of Country Music and the CMA. He was revealed as a finalist for this weekend’s Billboard Music Awards since the show is based on factual data and not a voting committee. However, he will not be able to appear or perform.
