Morgan Wallen has made his return to the Billboard Country Airplay chart!
The exciting news comes on the heels of his record-breaking project, Dangerous: The Double Album, dominating Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart, dated July 10, for a 22nd week. The album amassing 47,000 equivalent album units earned during the week ending July 1, according to MRC data.
Dangerous’ opening track, “Sand In My Boots,” has debuted on the Country Airplay chart at No. 56 with 699,000 audience impressions, which is up 105%, during the week ending July 4, according to Billboard. The outlet added that “10 of the chart’s 149 reporters played it at least once in the tracking week.”
“Sand In My Boots” appearance on the Country Airplay chart marked Wallen’s first time appearing on the chart since the chart date February 6, when his fan-favorite track, “7 Summers” peaked at No. 15.
The aforementioned track is not Wallen’s current radio single, nor is the track being actively promoted. However, when Billboard reached out to some radio programmers for a statement, one anonymous major-market programmer said, “I think it would be a No. 1, and that he’d be welcomed back. He made a mistake and he’s apologized a number of times. He belongs back on the chart.”
The country superstar and East Tennessee native was removed from country radio in early February after TMZ shared a video of him using a racial slur. His ban from country radio halted his trek on the Country Airplay chart, following four consecutive No. 1s on the chart.
Additionally, the singer music has seemingly been added back into rotation at most, if not all, country radio stations worldwide. According to an article shared by the same outlet, dated June 16, Wallen’s airplay numbers doubled and went up 164% in June.
This news comes just days after Wallen shared a clip, performing an unreleased new song entitled “Drink U Back,” co-written by his longtime friend and Big Loud labelmate, ERNEST.
ERNEST, co-wrote 11 tracks, including “Wasted On You,” “More Than My Hometown,” and “Somebody’s Problem,” on his chart-topping sophomore project, Dangerous: The Double Album. ERNEST and Wallen have been spending quite a bit of time together and are often seen on the golf course with one another.
“Drink U Back” was shared just days after the “Dangerous” singer was seen in the studio with his longtime collaborator, HARDY.
Wallen previously shared an acoustic performance of another new song, “Thought You Should Know,” which you can hear below.
In addition to returning to the Billboard Country Airplay chart and sharing snippets of unreleased new music, Wallen recently sent an emotion-filled video message to a fan named Caila Nagel, who was hit by a drunk driver in 2020.
The Ohio fan received a personalized video message from the country superstar on Sunday (July 4). In the 45-second clip, sent by Wallen, he expressed sympathy and sent prayers to the injured fan, while also thanking her for listening to his music and letting her know that he would love to meet her one day.
“Hi Caila, It’s Morgan Wallen, I heard about your story and I just wanted to say it touched me and I’m glad you made it through,” Wallen said in the clip. “I know that I can’t comprehend what you’re going through, what you’ve been through but I just wanted to let you know that I’m thinking about you, I’m praying for you, I’m inspired by you.”
The East Tennessee native later added, “I really appreciate you listening to my music, I’m glad that it means something to you, that means a lot to me. I hope that I can meet you one day. Hopefully we can hang out or you can at least come to a show or something but I just wanted to let you know that I’m aware of what you’re going through and that I hope it gets better. God bless you, hope to see you soon.”
You can watch the clip below.
