Does country singer Morgan Wallen still deserve his fame and the loyalty of his fans? It depends on who you talk to after two different mishaps which have shaken his fan base in recent years.
The first incident occurred in 2021 when a video surfaced of Wallen saying a racial slur. At the time, he told TMZ, “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.”
Since then, he has made quite the recovery with his “Dangerous” tour and his “One Night At A Time” tour.
Then the second incident occured. On April 23 of this year, Wallen was supposed to perform in Oxford, Mississippi, for night two of his “One Night At A Time” tour. Nearly 60,000 fans packed into Vaught Hemingway Stadium at the University of Mississippi. They waited all day and saw the opening performers Hardy, Earnest, and Nate Smith, only to be greeted with a message on the screens that stated this: “Ladies and gentlemen, unfortunately Morgan has lost his voice and is unable to perform tonight.”
Fans were completely taken aback by this pronouncement. Some even thought it was a prank, but they quickly realized it wasn’t when soon after a staff member came onto the stage and began asking people to leave the stadium. Some fans were enraged and understandably upset. Things got out of hand after people left, with some angry fans burning Wallen’s merchandise in the street.
Shortly after this incident, rumors started flying. A video was taken of one of the stadium security guards saying that Wallen was “too drunk to perform.” The rumors kept growing and people started saying he was taken away in an ambulance. That was debunked quickly when an EMS member at the stadium stated that it never happened.
So, what really happened? Wallen posted an apology on Instagram stating that he truly did lose his voice, following the apology with “I am so sorry, I promise you guys I tried everything I could.”
Wallen took 10 days of vocal rest, rescheduling the shows in that time frame. After that, he played three shows in Florida, although he stated that he felt horrible by the last one. He went to the doctor and got scoped (a procedure done with a camera that was used to look at his vocal cords). He said doctors told him that he had injured his vocal cords and had vocal fold trauma. They advised him to go on vocal rest for six weeks to avoid permanently damaging his vocal cords.
He rescheduled all 14 of the concerts in that six-week period. He took a lot of time to recover, as doctors told him to talk as little as possible, let along sing.
“I hate it, but I love you guys,” said Wallen on another Instagram post. After that, he had a long road to recovery and was waiting to get back on the stage.
Wallen finally recovered and made his return to the stage on June 22 at Chicago’s Wrigley Field. He reached an at-capacity crowd of 41,538 people. Fans were excited and he had a successful show and has been performing steadily since then.
Wallen is an example of how, with enough fan support and open, heart-felt apologies, entertainers can spring back from even disastrous circumstances.
“I don’t think he should lose any support or fame. He is only human and things happen and he has to do what he can to stay healthy and still be able to sing,” said FCHS junior Lily Prater.
