Morgan Wallen’s career rehabilitation continued this week with an award nomination from the Country Music Association.
The controversial star is in the running for Album of the Year at the 55th Annual CMA Awards, for “Dangerous: The Double Album.” Although he’s been banned from competing in some of the key award categories -- ones that recognize him as an individual artist, such as Entertainer of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year -- Wallen is eligible for Album of the Year because his collaborators are named, and would receive trophies if “Dangerous” wins.
The CMA’s board of directors announced its rules of eligibility for Wallen in May, saying they didn’t want to “limit opportunity for other credited collaborators.”
The award for Album of the Year goes to the artist, producers and mix engineers. In Wallen’s case, the collaborators for “Dangerous” are producers Dave Cohen, Matt Dragstrem, Jacob Durrett and Charlie Handsome, and producer/mix engineer Joey Moi.
Nominees for the 2021 CMA Awards were announced on Thursday. The ceremony is set for Nov. 10 and will be broadcast Live on ABC.
Eric Church and Chris Stapleton lead the pack with five nominations apiece, including Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year and Album of the Year. Singer Gabby Barrett, mix engineer Jason Hall and producer Jay Joyce follow with four nods apiece.
Nominees with Alabama ties include Little Big Town and Zac Brown Band, both in the running for Vocal Group of the Year. Florida Georgia Line also earned a nod, in the category of Vocal Duo of the Year.
Wallen has yet to post a reaction to his CMA nod on social media, but it’s been an eventful week for him, marked by a benefit concert for flood relief in Tennessee.
Wednesday’s “Morgan Wallen and Friends” show at Marathon Music Works in Nashville raised $725,000 for The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee and the Tennessee Emergency Response Fund, according to Wallen’s publicist. Dierks Bentley, Cole Swindell, HARDY, Lainey Wilson and other artists were on the bill.
Tickets, priced at $150-$200, sold out immediately at the venue, which has a standing-room capacity of 1,500. Wallen encouraged fans who couldn’t attend to donate to the cause, and provided them with information to do so via posts on social media.
The benefit was Wallen’s first official concert since February, when he became embroiled in controversy after a video surfaced of him using a racial slur. Wallen made a few surprise appearances in Nashville over the past few months, playing some songs at Kid Rock’s bar in May, popping up at Luke Bryan’s July show at Bridgestone Arena and performing at Whiskey Jam in August.
Fans welcomed him at all of these venues, but the rowdy singer’s been in hot water since Feb. 2. That’s when TMZ posted a video of Wallen stumbling around outside his house, yelling with friends, tossing F-bombs and using the N-word. The clip, evidently taken by a neighbor’s security camera, provoked outrage in the music world and put Wallen’s skyrocketing career on hold.
Major streaming services removed Wallen’s music from their playlists, the singer’s record label, Big Loud, suspended him indefinitely and he was dropped by talent agency WME. The Academy of Country Music also barred Wallen from “involvement and eligibility” in the ACM Awards this year.
Dick Clark Productions, producer of the Billboard Music Awards, also said Wallen wasn’t welcome at its ceremony this year, despite his status as a finalist for six BBMAs in five categories. He won three of the awards: Top Country Artist, Top Male Country Artist and top Country Album for “Dangerous.”
Wallen apologized for his actions in a lengthy video posted Feb. 10 on Instagram, quoting the Bible and saying he was on the road to sobriety. Wallen said he had pondered his behavior, talked with Black leaders and taken steps toward improvement.
Throughout the controversy, fans have made their allegiance to Wallen clear, supporting his new record, “Dangerous: The Double Album.” The album, released on Jan. 8, spent 10 weeks at the top of the Billboard 200 chart. Now, after 34 weeks, “Dangerous” sits at the No. 6 spot. The record had an even better run on Billboard’s Country Albums chart -- 31 weeks at No 1. out of 33 weeks -- and it holds the top spot again this week.
Wallen made his official return to country radio in late August with the single “Sand in My Boots.” In late July, he made a conciliatory appearance on “Good Morning America,” blaming his previous actions on ignorance and alcohol.
Two booze-fueled incidents put Wallen on the public radar in 2020, and not in a good way.
In October 2020, he was caught flouting coronavirus protocols while partying in Tuscaloosa after a University of Alabama football game. Videos on TikTok showed him posing with fans in T-Town on Oct. 3, downing shots, kissing girls, playing the guitar and making merry in an extremely reckless way. The clips showed Wallen in a bar, at a house party, in the backseat of a fan’s car and more, eschewing masks or social distancing.
Although he apologized on Instagram and admitted that he had “some growing up to do,” Wallen suffered career consequences. He was scheduled to perform on “Saturday Night Live” on Oct. 10, but producers dropped him as the musical guest on the show.
Jack White served as a last-minute replacement. Wallen received a makeup date on “SNL” in early December, and lampooned the Tuscaloosa incident by appearing in a skit during the show.
In May 2020, Wallen was arrested outside Kid Rock’s bar for public intoxication and disorderly conduct. At the time, Wallen posted a tweet that said he and his friends were “horse-playing with each other” and “didn’t mean any harm.”
Ad Choices