In an unprecedented event, Ole Miss Athletics announced Thursday that contemporary country music superstar Morgan Wallen will headline a concert in April 2023 at Vaught-Hemingway stadium as part of his “One Night at a Time” world tour. This is the first time that a major musical event has performed at the Vaught.
Months removed from the performance in late April, the campus is already buzzing with excitement.
“Best news I could have ever received on the Thursday before finals,” a UM student said under Ole Miss Athletics’ announcement on Instagram.
Wallen, a 29-year-old Tennessee native, has a music career that spans nearly a decade. Massively successful, Wallen is known for penning and performing smash hits in the country and bro-country genre.
Set against backdrops that are strikingly familiar to many in white America — parking lot parties, the inside of a Chevrolet, his hometown — Wallen bottles themes like drinking, debauchery, romance and regret into music that has garnered him explosive success.
His most recent release, “Dangerous: The Double Album,” topped the Billboard 200 chart for six weeks after its release in January 2021. He was the first country music artist to do that since Garth Brooks almost two decades earlier in 1992. Nineteen songs from the 30-song album found their way onto the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, including his wildly popular cover of Jason Isbell’s “Cover Me Up”. He has more than 13 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
“This concert is one stop on Morgan Wallen’s world tour. He is a very successful recording artist – his most recent album reached the top of the Billboard charts and is the reigning Country Album of the Year by multiple organizations, and his last eight singles have charted among the top 30 regardless of genre. The response from fans and students after today’s announcement has been remarkable, and we are excited to see a packed stadium for the first concert at Vaught-Hemingway,” Ole Miss Athletics said in a statement to The Daily Mississippian.
Despite massive commercial success, Wallen’s time in the limelight has been repeatedly marred by his inability to keep himself out of controversy.
Most infamously, Wallen was caught on camera using a racial slur. The video of Wallen using the n-word, filmed in January 2021, surfaced the following month. The incident resulted in a deluge of public criticism — several radio stations, music platforms, artists, associations and even his own record label condemned and severed ties with him, though most have since been restored. Despite fans rushing to his defense, Wallen issued an apology shortly after the video surfaced. Many noted that his streams and album sales surged in the months following the incident.
Though many are looking forward to the concert, others in the Ole Miss community are questioning whether allowing Wallen to perform here is the right thing to be doing.
“So, y’all couldn’t find an artist that hasn’t been caught on tape using racial slurs,” commented one student.
An alumna of the university also weighed in under the post.
“Why, with our school’s incredibly complicated history with race would you allow this guy to perform when he’s notably been in hot water for throwing around racial slurs? Come on,” she said.
Whether the embattled artist has cleaned up his act or simply gotten better at hiding it, Wallen has mostly weathered the tides of public opinion to continue his career. The world tour, with 39 stops between the U.S. and Canada, will kick off in March 2023 and conclude in October.
The Oxford show will take place at Vaught-Hemingway stadium on April 22, 2023. It is the first time a concert has been performed at the football stadium. In addition to Wallen, HARDY, who headlined Mississippi State University’s annual outdoor concert, Bulldog Bash, will return to Oxford to perform with Wallen as a guest appearance.
Tickets for the Oxford show will be available for purchase online on Dec. 16. Ticketmaster presale registration is open now.
