His record-breaking year continues.
Over the weekend, Morgan Wallen scored his fifth #1 hit with “Lies Lies Lies,” which topped the Billboard Country Airplay chart, becoming his 15th chart-topper on that chart overall.
Like I said when the song came out back in July, I figured this would be his next hit after a strong debut at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 (which encompasses all musical genres), which basically just means that fans were loving it immediately and it was headed for major crossover success.
Written by Jessie Jo Dillon, Josh Miller, Daniel Ross and Chris Tompkins, it’s likely to be the lead single from a forthcoming Wallen album, which he’s been teasing some and will probably be released next year (I don’t have any insider information, just speculating here).
Morgan’s obviously been on a tear this year, and had the highest-selling country tour of all-time after wrapping up his massive 2024 One Night At A Time World Tour. With his newest #1, he also becomes the first artist to have five #1’s in a single year on the Country Airplay chart, dating to the list’s January 1990 launch.
It’s one of the two charts labels use to officially track their songs performance, along with the Mediabase chart, and joins the list of other #1’s he’s released as the lead artist or been featured on this year, including “Cowgirls” (featuring Ernest), Post Malone’s “I Had Some Help,” “Man Made a Bar” (featuring Eric Church) and Thomas Rhett’s “Mamaw’s House.”
According to Billboard, only Luke Combs and Garth Brooks have had a similar record of #1’s in a single year, as they each had four, Luke’s run being in 2021 and Garth did it both in 1991 and 1993. Wallen also did it with four songs in 2023.
.@MorganWallen becomes the first artist in history to earn 5 #1’s on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart in a calendar year.
•Mamaw’s House (w/ @ThomasRhett)
•Man Made A Bar (ft. @ericchurch)
•I Had Some Help (w/ @PostMalone)
•Cowgirls (ft. @ernest615)
•Lies Lies Lies pic.twitter.com/o6CRxFveiZ— U.S. Radio Updater (@USRadioUpdater) November 15, 2024
In terms of the meaning of the song itself, “Lies Lies Lies” finds Morgan trying to convince himself that he’s moved on from a past love before admitting that it was all just the “90 proof telling me lies” while begging the girl to stay and promising that she’s the only thing that really matters to him.
It’s right in his wheelhouse in terms of getting over heartbreak and wanting to find love again, and has been a fan-favorite since he first put out a live version which was recorded as part of his Abbey Road Sessions that were recorded in London in Studio Two of the iconic Abbey Road Studios.
With such a big year in 2024 and more momentum than ever, it seems as though Morgan is poised to somehow continue to set, and break, unprecedented records both in country music and beyond that. Plus, with a new record, likely on the horizon, it’s hard to even imagine where his incredibly successful career will go from here.
Whether you like his music or not, there’s no denying that he’s the hottest thing in music and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon… in fact, he’s only speeding up at an unprecedented pace.
“Lies Lies Lies”
Morgan also released “Love Somebody” in October, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart:
