Morgan Wallen spends ninth consecutive week at No 1

Dangerous is one of four country albums to spend at least nine weeks at No. 1

Morgan Wallen’s sophomore effort Dangerous: The Double Album tops the Billboard Top 200 chart for the ninth consecutive week, the first since Drake’s Views scored 13 nonconsecutive No. 1 weeks in 2016. Dangerous is the latest of four country albums to have spent at least nine weeks at the top, according to Billboard. Wallen joins Garth Brooks’ Ropin’ The Wind with 18 weeks in 1991-1992, Billy Ray Cyrus’ Some Gave All with 17 in 1992 and Taylor Swift’s Fearless with 11 in 2008-2009. Wallen also surpasses Swift’s Folklore — which he tied last week at eight — for the most weeks at the top spot in the past five years.

Dangerous earned 78k equivalent album units in the US in the week ending March 11th, according MRC Data. That is down six percent from last week’s 82k.

Wallen continues to reign as the best selling artist of 2021, despite being blacklisted by the industry last month after video surfaced of him using a racial slur. The album debuted atop the Billboard list eight weeks ago and set the bar for country records by shattering first-week streams and on-demand Alexa requests. 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.

Six of the chart-topping weeks have been without the help any promotion after major radio chains, video channels, and online outlets pulled his music from its rotations and his label “made the decision to suspend Morgan Wallen’s recording contract indefinitely” after the video surfaced on TMZ. Many of the stations, including several we spoke with, do not have a timeline on restoring his music to its playlists, despite sharing a five minute video apology a week after the incident surfaced. However, one radio station in his hometown of Knoxville reinstated his music after polling its listeners.

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. The album continues to dominate even after Wallen himself asks that fans not support him during this time.

Buddy Iahn
Buddy Iahn

Buddy Iahn founded The Music Universe when he decided to juxtapose his love of web design and music. As a lifelong drummer, he decided to take a hiatus from playing music to report it. The website began as a fun project in 2013 to one of the top independent news sites. Email: info@themusicuniverse.com