Morgan Wallen appeared on Saturday Night Live to perform two tracks from his forthcoming album, I’m the Problem.
Wallen, marking his second musical guest spot on the late night show, opened with the title track, and followed it up with “Just In Case.”
Since January, Wallen has been teasing or releasing tracks from his fourth studio album, which is due out May 16. In addition to the two he performed Saturday, the Tennessee native has put out “Superman,” “Smile,” and “I’m a Little Crazy.”
Wallen’s appearance was not without some controversy: During the traditional goodbyes – when the cast, host and musical guest congregate onstage while the end credits roll – Wallen abruptly left the stage for reasons unknown and walked into the audience area.
Soon after, Wallen posted a photo of a private plane on Instagram Stories with the caption: “Get me to God’s country,” suggesting he quickly left New York:
The name of Wallen’s latest album may allude to some of his unforced errors in recent years.
Wallen was arrested twice in Nashville, Tennessee–once in 2020 for public intoxication and disorderly conduct, and last year for allegedly throwing a chair off a rooftop bar onto the ground below. In the latter case, he pled guilty last December to two misdemeanors for reckless endangerment without a weapon, and was ordered to spend a week in a DUI education center and to serve a suspended sentence of two years of supervised probation.
In 2021, a video surfaced of Wallen shouting the “n-word” to a group of friends while in Nashville. In the following days, streaming services and radio stations removed him from their playlists, CMT began removing his appearances from its platforms, and his booking agent, WME, dropped him. Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album only increased in sales in the following weeks, however. Wallen said he was “embarrassed and sorry” by his actions.
Yet another misstep saw Wallen break CDC guidelines for Covid-19 in October 2020. Wallen’s scheduled debut on SNL was cancelled as a result, though he ultimately performed two months later, and in one sketch poked fun at himself partying without social distancing during the pandemic.
Wallen will be going on tour this summer in North America for I’m the Problem, which is his first full-length album since 2023’s One Thing at a Time.
“We made so many lifelong memories on the One Night at A Time World Tour, and I cannot begin to express how grateful I am for my fans and the way they showed up each night,” Wallen said in a statement after announcing the upcoming tour. “As I’ve been working on new music, it has inspired me to get back on the road and share these new songs with each of you on the I’m The Problem Tour. See y’all there.”
