Morgan Wallen has 2021's best-selling album despite bans from award shows after N-word episode
Despite being banned from award shows and dropped from multiple publications after he was caught using the N-word, Morgan Wallen has bounced back with the biggest selling album of 2021. His album 'Dangerous: The Double Album' was released in January and has sold over 3 million copies. These analytics were released by MRC Data earlier in December 2021.
Not only did Wallen's album rank as the highest selling, it also beat Adele's '30' among other anticipated biggest sellers. Adele's '30' sold less than 50% of Wallen's album. Adele's album sold 1.4 million copies. 'Dangerous: The Double Album' also surpassed Kanye's 'Donda' which sold 1 million copies.
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A month after the release in February, Morgan Wallen was caught calling someone 'p***y' and using the N-word. This was caught in a video captured by TMZ when Wallen was enjoying a night out with friends. In the video, Morgan was heard yelling to his friend from the driveway to 'take care of this p***y a** (N-word)'. Explaining himself, Wallen said that he slurred out those words as he was going through a 72-hour bender. Following the consequences, he checked into a 30-day rehab facility to get a hold of himself. After he was done with the rehab course, he apologized to the authorities of award shows where he was nominated.
However, the American Music Awards and the Country Music Awards stuck to their decisions and banned him. A representative for the American Music Awards said, "Morgan Wallen is a nominee this year based on charting. As his conduct does not align with our core values, we will not be including him on the show in any capacity (performing, presenting, accepting)". The American Music Awards are essentially a fan vote-based award show. They said they would 'consider' allowing Wallen back sometime in the future if he shows he was an 'ally to the Black community'.
Similarly, the Country Music Awards also denied entry to this country artist. He was taken off from the single artist category nominations but Morgan Wallen's name remained in collaborative nominations like 'Album of the Year'.
According to a CMA insider, this was the first time ever that an artist was disqualified due to his conduct. Both the American Music Awards and the Country Music Awards were held in November. Additionally, Morgan Wallen was under temporary suspension from his label Big Loud/Republic. Several radio stations had also dropped the artist. Morgan Wallen explained that he did understand the meaning and significance of the words he used but he meant to use them in a playful manner.
Via his Instagram, Wallen said: "Thank you to everyone who played a part in the creation and execution of this album. My entire team stepped up and continues to step up daily for me and for each other. I am honored to work beside you. You all know who you are. Thank you to my fans for supporting and believing in me. This couldn’t have been accomplished without God’s grace and without a common love for the country music I’ve been so blessed to be able to make. I love y’all."