Still not ‘100%,’ Morgan Wallen resumes tour in Florida with an apology to fans
Country superstar Morgan Wallen says he’s doing much better after abruptly canceling a series of concerts last month for vocal rest.
The “Whiskey Glasses” and “Wasted on You” crooner returned to the stage Thursday, resuming his One Night at a Time world tour in Jacksonville, Fla., following a health update he shared with his 5.5 million Instagram followers.
“What’s up, everybody? I just wanted to let you know I am in Jacksonville. We are going to play a show tonight — and all weekend,” the 29-year-old said in an Instagram Story. “I wouldn’t say I’m 100%, but I’m doing a lot better.”
What’s clear about the country musician, who touched down Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena for the first of two sold-out concerts, is that being caught on video drunkenly using the N-word has not derailed his career.
Wallen also apologized to the nearly 60,000 concertgoers in Oxford, Miss., who packed Vaught-Hemingway Stadium at the University of Mississippi on April 23 only to have him cancel moments before showtime. The musician had to cancel three additional shows in Michigan, Illinois and Nebraska after being put on “doctor-ordered vocal rest.”
“And to everyone in Oxford, I just wanted to reiterate how sorry I am for the way that went down. I thought I was going to be good to go and I just wasn’t,” Wallen said Thursday, adding that he and his team are working on rescheduling the canceled dates. The sudden Mississippi cancellation prompted the threat of a lawsuit and rumors that the singer was too drunk to perform, the latter of which Wallen’s team denied.
“We are close to having a rescheduled date, I just don’t have the exact one yet. So as soon as I do, I’ll let you know,” he said. “I appreciate y’all and I can’t wait to get back out on stage tonight. Love y’all and thank you for all the love and support, always, and God bless you and see you soon.”
Later Thursday, the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena posted footage of Wallen performing “You Proof” onstage during the Jacksonville stop, along with other concert footage, on its Instagram Story.
Wallen’s new opus is destined to be one of the year’s best sellers, despite (or because of) its unwillingness to address the singer’s scandal from 2021.
The “Last Night” singer has been mounting a comeback after briefly falling from grace in early 2021 when he was caught on video drunkenly using the N-word to refer to a friend. The footage resulted in the aspiring superstar’s songs being temporarily removed from radio and streaming playlists and his label suspending his contract.
But Wallen has since been “un-canceled,” winning a number of prestigious country music awards and resuming his Dangerous tour in 2022. He launched his 39-date One Night at a Time tour in Milwaukee, Wis., in mid-April. The tour, for which the Jacksonville show was the sixth strop, runs through October and is in support of the March release of Wallen’s sophomore album, “One Thing at a Time.”
He hits the Los Angeles area this summer with a July 22 show at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.
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