Morgan Wallen’s record sales have skyrocketed despite an all-out media blitz aimed at deplatformimg the country music singer over an incident wherein Wallen allegedly said the n-word after a drunken night out with friends.
“Radio and others may have dropped him, but Morgan Wallen’s music is still selling,” reports CNN.
According to Billboard, Wallen’s latest “Dangerous: The Double Album” has been holding steady at number one on the “Billboard 200 chart for a fourth consecutive week.”
” The set earned 149,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Feb. 4 (up 14%), according to MRC Data. The album arrived atop the list three weeks ago, on the chart dated Jan. 23,” reported Billboard.
“On Feb. 6, Billboard reported that Wallen’s airplay had collapsed to a nominal amount through Feb. 5, after multiple radio groups dropped his music. Concurrently, his songs were removed from over 30 influential playlists across Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and Pandora (though his music remained available on all services),” the report added. “Also, though Big Loud suspended Wallen’s recording contract indefinitely, his music was not removed from any digital retailers (like iTunes), and remains available in brick-and-mortar retail stores.”
Last Wednesday, at the height of the controversy, Wallen’s sales rose 1,220%.
As The Daily Wire reported last week, SiriusXM, Pandora, CMT, iHeartRadio and many others pulled Morgan Wallen’s music after a neighbor recorded him drunkenly referring to a white friend as the N-word.
Wallen’s music was first pulled by Cumulus Media. The country music heavyweight sent a directive to all of its 400-plus stations to remove Wallen’s songs from their playlists “effective immediately,” Variety reported.
iHeartRadio, Entercom, cable network CMT, satellite service SiriusXM, and streaming service Pandora have all also removed the 27-year-old’s songs. Variety noted that Wallen’s music is not currently appearing on platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, too. Nashville-based label Big Loud has suspended their contract with Wallen “indefinitely.”
Wallen was also disqualified from playing at the Country Music Awards.
“I’m embarrassed and sorry,” Wallen said. “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.”
Ashlyne Wallen, Morgan’s sister, said the total destruction of his music career is yet another example of cancel culture’s lack of mercy or opportunity for growth.
“‘There are only 3 things you should ever do about a mistake: admit it, learn from it, and don’t repeat it,’” Ashlyne stated in an Instagram post last week. “Cancel culture is the worst thing that has come out of our digital world. It leaves no room for forgiveness and growth, in turn, leaving no opportunity for individuals who have made mistakes to learn from them. If you make a mistake or do something stupid then apologize, correct your mistake, and learn through personal growth.”
“The world we live in thrives off drama and bringing others down. I refuse to be part of that,” her post continued. “If my family or my friends make a mistake and apologize, I’m going to listen, accept it, and expect them to learn from their mistake. Someone who is truly sorry should be forgiven — not continuously bashed. Your past mistakes do not define you; it is how you choose to move forward that does.”