Morgan Wallen has made history yet again. The East Tennessee native performed two shows at the University of Tennessee’s Neyland Stadium on September 20 and 22, with 156,161 fans total in attendance from both nights. The two shows surpass the record The Jackson 5 set in 1984, with 148,407.
“When me and the boys first started playing shows, we started out playing bars, real small venues. Worked our way up to places like Cotton Eyed Joe,” Wallen said during the second evening’s concert. “Then we worked our way up to clubs, theaters, arenas and amphitheaters – we pretty much played any kind of venue there is, and all of a sudden you guys went and sold out Neyland today. Thank you.”
Wallen also spoke about the downside of being one of the biggest country music superstars of all time, when performing in front of the massive crowd.
“One thing that I miss though about the smaller shows is I could walk out on stage and I could look pretty much everybody in the eyes, so this is my attempt at trying to recreate some of that,” Wallen explained. “To come back here and look some more of y’all in the eyes and say thank you for supporting me and my music.”
During the first night’s concert, Wallen shared the significance of being the fourth artist to perform a concert at Neyland Stadium, joining the ranks of Kenny Chesney, Garth Brooks and The Jackson 5.
“This is one of the most special days of my entire life and I’m very glad you guys chose to spend this weekend here with me – it means a lot,” the 31-year-old said. “Before we get any further I want to make sure you make some noise for my band and crew who show up here early in advance to make sure we get to play the music y’all love. I have a lot of people here who mean a lot to me.
“I’ve got my little boy here, both my grandmothers here, my mom, my dad, my sisters, my nieces,” he continued. “I have been very fortunate to do a lot of great things over the last few years, but I know that this right here is going to be extremely hard to top as one of the coolest things I’ve ever gotten to do. We’re gonna play a lot of songs tonight, I threw in a couple extra songs that I don’t normally play. I didn’t even ask about the curfew, so we’re just gonna play as long as we want to tonight.”
Eric Church, HARDY and Ernest joined Wallen for the first show, while Miranda Lambert, Darius Rucker and Peyton Manning surprised fans by joining Wallen for the second night. Wallen also announced that his new single, “Love Somebody,” will be out on October 18.
When it comes to making history with his live shows, Wallen is on a roll. He also madey made history when he performed on July 4th at Hyde Park in London. Joined by Riley Green, Alexandra Kay, Ernest, Ella Langley, Alana Springsteen and more, the show marked the first time first time a contemporary country artist has headlined an all-genre festival, which also became the largest country concert ever held in the UK.
Find all of Wallen’s music and upcoming shows at MorganWallen.com.
Photo Credits: Getty Images/John Shearer