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Jason Kempin/ACMA2020/Getty Images for ACMEmbattled country artist Morgan Wallen, who suffered an intense falling out after a video surfaced of the singer shouting a racial slur, continues his reign atop the Billboard 200.
The singer, who recently released his sophomore album Dangerous: The Double Album, held onto the number one spot for a fourth consecutive week. This becomes the first country album to spend four weeks at number one since Shania Twain‘s 2003 album Up!
Wallen’s album moved an additional 149,000 units, a number that consists of album sales and on-demand streams as his sales of his music dramatically increased amid the controversy.
Billboard reports that sales of the Dangerous album are up 103 percent over the past week. The publication says the album was streamed 159.76 million times and that he sold an additional 25,000 albums.
While Wallen’s music sales continue to skyrocket, the same cannot be said for the country singer’s professional career.
Last week, the 27-year-old’s recording contract indefinitely suspended by his label, Big Loud Records, and he was dropped by talent agency WME. In addition, Wallen was removed from CMT airplay, barred from ACM Award eligibility and numerous radio companies dropped his music catalog from airplay.
While Wallen’s music continues to be available for streaming and download across all major sites, around 30 of the top playlists across Spotify, Amazon Music and Apple Music have purged his songs from their entries.
Maren Morris, Mickey Guyton and many other country stars have condemned Wallen and racism in country music.
Wallen previously told Good Morning America, “I’m embarrassed and sorry. 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.”
By Megan Stone
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