Despite his undeniable success in Country music, Morgan Wallen never had plans to pursue a music career. His first love was baseball— and while he was playing his cards right on his journey to the Major League, an unexpected injury halted his baseball dreams.
Although Wallen is grateful for the success he has achieved in Country music, he previously expressed how disappointed he was that he would never be able to go on to be a professional baseball player.
“My mom said I never played with toys or games or anything,” he told Nashville Lifestyles. “It was always music or sports. As I got a little older, sports took over, because when you’re that age it’s cooler to play sports than it is to play music. I would still listen to a lot of music and still loved it, but I didn’t take as much part in it as I did before. And then once my baseball career was over — I was supposed to play in college, got hurt — I went through a period where I was trying to figure out what I was going to do.”
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After Being Injured On The Baseball Field, Morgan Wallen Began To Pursue Music
After the injury, Wallen felt lost and he was able to find a new career path in music, which he was equally as passionate about.
“It was hard,” Wallen recalled at the time. “I was devastated because I’d put so much time and effort into baseball. So, I started writing songs and playing guitar. It was a way to help me get my feelings out and just to keep my mind occupied and to say the things that I wanted to say. By the time I was about 19 is when I really started growing the love for music that could be my music.”
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Morgan Wallen Later Joined The Voice
After coming to the realization that he would never be able to play baseball again, Wallen decided to join NBC’s The Voice, where he competed on Team Usher and Adam Levine, and ultimately was eliminated during the playoffs during Season 6. “Some things in life are out of your control. Being the best you can be isn’t. I didn’t feel like I was the best I could have been. So I practiced harder,” he previously told Billboard.
“My favorite thing about it was I got to meet my manager, my booking agent through that whole process and just kind of got to be another step along the way to get to where I want to be,” he recalled.
He then went on to form connections within the music industry and formed a temporary band called Morgan Wallen & Them Shadows with his friend Sergio Sanchez of Atom Smash. Following his departure from The Voice, Wallen made the move to Nashville.
As he references in many of his songs, Wallen is from Sneedville, a small town in East Tennessee. Although Wallen’s hometown is just a few hours from Music City, he previously revealed that he didn’t know much about Nashville before moving there.
“Honestly, I didn’t know anything about the music industry,” Wallen explained. “I’d never been to Nashville other than the outskirts to play some baseball tournaments. I didn’t really even understand a lot of the history of Nashville—it just seemed far away to me growing up. But now that I know about it, it makes me proud of being from this state and getting to represent it. I’ve never lived anywhere else; Tennessee has always been my home. I’m a little further West now than I was growing up, but it’s still a part of what I grew up doing. It’s special to me to be able to represent this place that I love so much.”
He Made The Move To Nashville In 2015 And Quickly Became A Country Superstar
After moving to Nashville to advance his career in 2015, Sanchez introduced Wallen to Bill Ray and Paul Trust of Panacea Records, who later signed Wallen to a record deal. While signed to the label, Wallen, who was joined by his longtime guitarist Dominic Frost, released Stand Alone, an EP that features his debut single under Panacea Records, “Spin You Around.” The single was later certified gold in 2021 by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Since making a name for himself in Country music, Wallen has gone on to earn seven No. 1 singles, including “Up Down,” “Whiskey Glasses,” “Chasin’ You,” “More Than My Hometown,” “Sand In My Boots,” “Wasted On You,” and “You Proof,” as well as has released two albums, If I Know Me and Dangerous: The Double Album.
Wallen also went on to make his Grand Ole Opry debut in 2017 and tour as support on several tours with Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, Florida Georgia Line, Chris Lane, Luke Combs and more. He later embarked on several headlining tours, including the Up Down Tour, If I Know Me Tour and the Monster Energy Outbreak Tour Presents: Morgan Wallen’s Whiskey Glasses Roadshow, in 2019.
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Fast-forward to 2021, Morgan Wallen broke records with his headlining Dangerous Arena Tour that ran through 2022.
Morgan Wallen Will Soon Embark On His First Stadium Tour
Wallen will soon return to the road for his first-ever stadium tour, dubbed One Night At A Time World Tour.
The tour officially kicks off on Wednesday, March 15 in Auckland, NZ at the Spark Arena. The U.S. leg of the tour begins on April 14 with back-to-back nights at Milwaukee’s American Family Field. The tour will make its way around North America with stops at 17 stadiums as well as various arenas, amphitheaters, and festivals.
Marking one of the largest tours of 2023 so far and the biggest tour of Wallen’s career, the 58-show trek will visit 26 stadiums, plus arenas, amphitheaters and festivals to fans across four countries and two continents. The trek will feature support from ERNEST and Bailey Zimmerman on all dates. HARDY and Parker McCollum will also appear on select dates.
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After making his stadium debut with a record-breaking show at Globe Life Field in Texas, Wallen will visit several ballparks throughout North America, including New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, Milwaukee’s American Family Field, Chicago’s Wrigley Field, Boston’s Fenway Park and more.
Produced by Live Nation, the North American leg of the trek will wrap up on October 7 at Tacoma Dome in Washington.
The One Night At A Time World Tour comes after Wallen’s highly successful Dangerous Tour, which included more than 50 sold-out shows. The record-breaking trek broke records at 30 venues across the U.S. during its 8-month-long run, including historic sellouts at 11 venues, while simultaneously breaking attendance records with stops at XFINITY Theatre, AmericanBank Center and Darien Lake Amphitheater.
In an effort to give back to those in need, Wallen will donate $3 of every ticket sold on the U.S. dates to the More Than My Hometown Foundation. Established in 2021, the foundation benefits causes near and dear to the superstar’s heart, including organizations such as Greater Good Music, Children Are People, the Salvation Army, and the National Museum of African American Music.
Wallen’s “You Proof” recently broke the Billboard Country Airplay Chart chart record and is now the longest-leading No. 1 in chart’s history.
Meanwhile, his newest single, “Thought You Should Know,” continues to make its way up the charts.
Wallen is currently working on his third studio album, which he has yet to confirm a release date for. However, he has shared several snippets of unreleased new songs such as “Hope That’s True” “Me + Your Reasons,” “Drink U Back,” “Whiskey Friends,” “Keith Whitley,” and most recently “I Wrote The Book.”
In addition, the “Thought You Should Know” singer recently released a trio of new songs on One Thing At A Time – Sampler, which features “One Thing At A Time,” “Tennessee Fan,” and “Days That End In Why.”
“I’ve had so many people ask me if I wanted to take some time off; but the truth is – I have been writing and making so much music in my off-time because I feel as inspired as I ever have. It feels like new songs are pouring out of me, and I love that feeling,” Wallen shared at the time of the three song collection’s release.
The new album will serve as the follow-up to his record-breaking sophomore project, Dangerous: The Double Album.
See A Full List Of Morgan Wallen’s 2023 One Night At A Time World Tour Dates Below.
Morgan Wallen 2023 U.S. Tour Dates
Fri, April 14 Milwaukee, WI American Family Field*# NEW
Sat, April 15 Milwaukee, WI American Family Field*#
Thurs, April 20 Louisville, KY KFC Yum! Center
Sat, April 22 Oxford, MS Vaught-Hemingway Stadium*#
Thurs, April 27 Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel Arena
Fri, April 28 Moline, IL Vibrant Arena
Sat, April 29 Lincoln, NE Pinnacle Bank Arena
Thurs, May 4 Jacksonville, FL VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena
Fri, May 5 West Palm Beach, FL iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre
Sat, May 6 Tampa, FL MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
Thurs, May 18 Hershey, PA Hersheypark Stadium
Fri, May 19 East Rutherford, NJ MetLife Stadium*$ NEW
Sat, May 20 East Rutherford, NJ MetLife Stadium*$
Wed, May 24 Austin, TX Moody Center
Fri, May 26 Houston, TX Minute Maid Park*#
Thurs, June 1 Atlanta, GA Truist Park*$ NEW
Fri, June 2 Atlanta, GA Truist Park*$
Sat, June 3 Panama City Beach, FL Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam^
Thurs, June 8 Virginia Beach, VA Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater NEW
Fri, June 9 Virginia Beach, VA Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater
Sat, June 10 Myrtle Beach, SC Carolina Country Music Fest^
Wed, June 14 Pittsburgh, PA PNC Park*& NEW
Thurs, June 15 Pittsburgh, PA PNC Park*#
Sat, June 17 Philadelphia, PA Citizens Bank Park*#
Thurs, June 22 Chicago, IL Wrigley Field*# NEW
Fri, June 23 Chicago, IL Wrigley Field*$
Thurs, June 29 Detroit, MI Ford Field*# NEW
Fri, June 30 Detroit, MI Ford Field*#
Thurs, July 6 St. Louis, MO Busch Stadium*$ NEW
Fri, July 7 St. Louis, MO Busch Stadium*$
Fri, July 14 San Diego, CA Petco Park*# NEW
Sat, July 15 San Diego, CA Petco Park*#
Wed, July 19 Phoenix, AZ Chase Field*# NEW
Thurs, July 20 Phoenix, AZ Chase Field*#
Sat, July 22 Los Angeles, CA SoFi Stadium*#
Thurs, Aug 3 Detroit Lakes, MN WE Fest^
Sat, Aug 12 Columbus, OH Ohio Stadium*#
Thurs, Aug 17 Boston, MA Fenway Park*# NEW
Fri, Aug 18 Boston, MA Fenway Park*$
Sat, Sept 2 Washington, DC FedEx Field*$
Sat, Oct 7 Tacoma, WA Tacoma Dome
Morgan Wallen 2023 International Tour Dates
Wed, March 15 Auckland, NZ Spark Arena #
Sun, March 19 Ipswich, QLD CMC Rocks ^
Tues, March 21 Sydney, NSW Qudos Bank Arena #
Fri, March 24 Melbourne, VIC Rod Laver Arena #
Sat, Aug 5 Camrose, AB Big Valley Jamboree^
Thurs, Sept 14 Toronto, ON Budweiser Stage NEW
Fri, Sept 15 Toronto, ON Budweiser Stage NEW
Sat, Sept 16 Toronto, ON Budweiser Stage
Mon, Sept 18 London, ON Budweiser Gardens
Thurs, Sept 21 Ottawa, ON Canadian Tire Centre
Fri, Sept 22 Quebec City, QC Videotron Centre
Sat, Sept 23 Montreal, QC Bell Centre
Thurs, Sept 28 Winnipeg, MB Canada Life Centre
Fri, Sept 29 Saskatoon, SK SaskTel Centre
Sat, Sept 30 Calgary, AB Scotiabank Saddledome
Tues, Oct 3 Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena NEW
Wed, Oct 4 Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena
* Stadium Dates
^ Festival Dates
# HARDY, ERNEST, Bailey Zimmerman
$ Parker McCollum, ERNEST, Bailey Zimmerman
& HARDY, Bailey Zimmerman
