Last month, Morgan Wallen was feeling like he was at the bottom, and now he's here.
On Feb. 2, the country singer was caught on camera using the N-word in a leaked video. The fallout from his words was swift: Big Loud Records suspended him "indefinitely," his agency dropped him, the Academy of Country Music said he isn't eligible for awards this year, and perhaps worst of all, nearly every radio station in the country took him out of rotation.
Somehow, one month later, none of that seemed to matter.
For the seventh consecutive week, Morgan's "Dangerous: The Double Album" sits atop the Billboard charts. The only other country album to stay at the top spot for six weeks was Garth Brooks' "The Chase" in 1992. The only other music artist regardless of genre to own the No. 1 spot for seven weeks was Drake in 2016 with "Views." Morgan can beat Drake's record next week, something that seemed inconceivable one month ago.
What makes the feat all the more incredible is that Morgan has had virtually no backing of radio, which is a huge driver for country artists.
A week after the video was leaked, Morgan issued a lengthy apology on social media, indicating he was "long overdue to make a statement" and "wanted to collect my thoughts, seek some real guidance," and come before fans "with a complete thought" before doing so.
The chart-topping singer said that at the time of the video, he was "on hour 72 of 72 of a bender, and that's not something I'm proud of either." He added, "I let so many people down."
Since then, Morgan has met with Black organizations to discuss his words. "I'll admit to y'all I was pretty nervous to accept those invitations from the very people I hurt, and they had every right to step on my neck while I was down, to not show me any grace, but they did the exact opposite," he said. "They offered me grace and they also paired that with an offer to learn and to grow. And I'll be honest, that kindness really inspired me to dig deeper. … This week, I heard first-hand some personal stories from Black people that honestly shook me."
At the end of his video, Morgan asked his fans not to defend him for his actions.
"I was wrong. It's on me to take ownership for this and I fully accept any penalties I'm facing," he said. "The time of my return is solely upon me and the work I put in."