Morgan Wade is an artist that lets her lyrics showcase the struggles of her personal life, shared with the world when she is ready.
However, that was not the case surrounding the recent rumors involving the country music superstar’s friendship with Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast member Kyle Richards.
In a recent interview with The New York Times, the artist sat down to talk about music, life, and more before her set at Lollapalooza.
The interview opens with Wade having finished her second workout of the day, opening up that it’s “something healthy for her to be addicted to.”
The five-years-sober artist has always been candid with her struggles, making her music relatable to fans.
She said in a 2022 interview with People:
“It makes me happy that that song (‘The Nights’) gets people talking, and they don’t feel so alone. I think as a songwriter, from the exterior, I look really tough, the tattoos and everything like that. And then, even my music is vulnerable.
It’s good not to pretend like everything’s so great. I think that’s how we start talking about things, is we find someone else that feels the same way we do.”
With the success of her debut album, Wilder Days, Wade shares she has found herself putting a lot of pressure on herself as she rises into the spotlight and with the creation of her sophomore album, Pshycopath.
With the pressure of wanting to please her fans, Wade soon found herself in some internet drama with the announcement of her friend, Kyle Richards, splitting from her husband.
While Wade and Richards had been friends for a bit leading up to this announcement, the public was fascinated with the formation of their unlikely friendship from the start, and with the separation announcement, many thought that Wade was a love interest Richards was leaving her husband to pursue.
When the internet was consumed with theories about the unrequited love possibility, Wade was at her family’s home, spiraling.
Her manager, Mary Sparr, noted:
“She was calling me like once an hour or every two hours and being like, What am I going to do? What are we going to do?
She’s programmed to want to take an action. She wants to fix things. And, you know, sometimes there’s not anything to do but let time do the work.”
The news and unexpected time on front page was media attention that Wade was not used – and didn’t want, sending her to a dark place. She spent days in bed and got out of her gym routine, which according to Richards, is a clear indication that she was not in a good place.
It got so bad that Morgan said she thought she might have to seek treatment:
“I seriously thought I was going to have to go to a rehab just preventively, to keep me from doing something stupid.”
The attention she got made Wade recognize that you have to show grace, and she felt remorseful for the judgments she had cast toward celebrities in the past.
“I’m just a private person. I’ve always been just kind of quiet. And so when all this kind of came out, I was just, it felt like everything had been stripped from me.
And then too, your orientation, your sexuality, all that is just being discussed online by random people that don’t even know.
It’s heartbreaking.”
The gossip spread to her hometown, where her grandfather joked that it might even raise land prices in their small town – making Morgan laugh at the fact that even her grandpa had heard the rumors:
“He has a damn flip phone!”
While it took some time for Wade to work through the emotions of being thrown into the fire, she slowly but surely returned to her routine and used the narrative to her advantage. With the single “Fall In Love With Me” close to being released, she decided to have Richards play the love interest of the music video.
Wade used the ace up her sleeve perfectly, turning rumors into views for the video.
While having Richards star in the video was a well-played strategic media move on Wade and her label’s part, she did note how invasive the whole process felt.
“I don’t know why we’re in this day and time where we have to speculate about people’s sexuality.
That is not appropriate at all. Like, let anybody be what they want to be — it’s none of your damn business.”
Wade has always been honest when she chooses to open up about her life, and it is refreshing to hear her talk about her experience being thrown into an unwanted press storm. It’s a side of fame viewers often overlook and the toll it can take on those in the headlines.
Morgan Wade is set to release her sophomore album Psychopath on August 25th.
Psychopath tracklist:
1. “Domino”
2. “80’s Movie”
3. “Losers Look Like Me”
4. “Roman Candle”
5. “Guns and Roses”
6. “Alanis”
7. “Phantom Feelings”
8. “Psychopath”
9. “Outrun Me”
10. “Want”
11. “Fall In Love With Me”
12. “Meet Somebody”
13. “27 Club”
