Another hit for Morgan Wallen.
His song “Been By Now” is officially the #1 song on country radio this week, topping the Mediabase chart, one of two charts labels use to official track their songs performance, along with the Billboard Country Airplay chart.
Released in July, it’s his first single from a forthcoming, unofficially announced album, and it marks Morgan’s 24th #1 hit at country radio thus far:
“Been By Now” was written by Morgan with Charlie Handsome, John Byron, Blake Pendergrass, Rocky Block, Taylor Phillips, and it is the first song he’s put out since released his record-breaking album I’m The Problem last year, which continues to dominate the charts. It debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 in May 2025, and spent 13 non-consecutive weeks at the top of the list, and has remained firmly in the Top 10 ever-since.
The song itself is right in Morgan’s wheelhouse in terms of it being about heartbreak and realizing a relationship is over, finding him coming to the realization that he’s in a relationship that’s no longer working… because “if it was meant to be, it we’d have been by now.” Part of him wants to make it work, they’re holding on as much as they can, but he knows that’s simply not their fate:
“Nah, we don’t even fight like we used to
We don’t even care ‘nough to cry no more
It’s been a hundred nights since I knew you
How long we gonna keep lookin’ at that door?
If it was meant to be, we’d have been by now
We wouldn’t have to keep tryna work things out
Yeah, baby, we’re a breeze when the lights go down
It wouldn’t be so hard when we ain’t in the dark
If we were in the stars, they’d have lined right up
Yeah, maybe from the start, we’ve been tryin’ too much
I know you wanna think that it’s what we found
But if it was meant to be, we’d have been by now
Been by now”
During his Still The Problem summer tour, Morgan confirmed that he’s been making a “lot of music” that he’s excited about, though he’s “not really sure” what he’s going to do next:
“It’s a little bittersweet, ’cause we’re getting close to the end of this tour. [It’s] kinda the end of this album’s era, I guess you could say. I ain’t really sure exactly what I’m gonna do next, but I do know that I’ve been in the studio. I’ve been making a lot of music. I’m excited about it.”
Additionally, Wallen gave insight about “Been By Now,” explaining that he knew he had a hit on his hands when they wrote it, adding that he wanted to base his next album around the track, which gives fans a little bit of insight in terms of what’s to come:
“The day we wrote this song, I kinda had a good feeling about it. I wanted to base a lot of my next stuff around it. I’m glad this day is here finally.”
Given the fact that “Been By Now” sees Wallen leaning in even harder into pop and his producer, Charlie Handsome, recently going on record saying he wants to turn Morgan into a full-blown pop star, it’s definitely something to keep an eye on as his fifth album begins to form in the coming months.
With this one officially topping the charts at country radio, I have to imagine Morgan is ready to announce the new album very soon and will likely be releasing new music in the very near future, especially since his Sand In My Boots festival appears to be coming back next year.
I have a feeling that whatever he releases next will find its way to the top of the country charts just as quickly as “Been By Now” did…
“Been By Now”
