After competing on the sixth season of The Voice in 2014, Morgan Wallen moved to Nashville a year later and released his first single “Spin You Around” and his EP Stand Alone.
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By 2018, Wallen’s debut album, If I Know Me, produced three No. 1 singles, including “Whiskey Glasses,” “Chasin’ You,” and his Florida Georgia Line collaboration “Up Down.” Around this time, Wallen was also pairing off some of his songs with artists, including Jason Aldean and A Thousand Horses.
[RELATED: Meaning Behind the Song “Last Night” by Morgan Wallen]
After picking up the CMA for Best New Artist in 2019, Wallen has continued topping the charts with 12 No. 1 singles—many of his most recent 36-track album, One Thing At A Time. The album is his second No. 1 release following his 30-track Dangerous: The Double Album in 2021, which also won an ACM for Album of the Year.
Within less than a decade, Wallen has also collaborated with everyone from Keith Urban and Diplo, to rapper Lil Durk, among others.
Here’s a look at seven songs Wallen wrote for other artists.
1. “Preachin’ to the Choir,” A Thousand Horses (2017)
Written by Morgan Wallen, Heather Morgan, Brad Warren, Brett Warren
On their 2017 release Bridges, A Thousand Horses recorded a live version of their breakthrough hit “Smoke” in Printer’s Alley in Nashville, Tennessee. The deluxe EP also features new tracks, including Wallen’s “Preachin’ to the Choir,” which also made the cut.
“‘Preachin’ to the Choir’ is the working people’s anthem,” said singer Michael Hobby. “It’s about the people that give it 100 percent and are an all-in, all-out kind of crowd. They work hard. They love hard, and they play hard.”
I’m either all in, or all out
I’m in the wooden pew Sunday mornin’ party crowd
If no one else will drink it, then you know I will
And wake up in the mornin’ with some Baptist guilt
Every tattoo’s got a story to tell
Mama said she’s prayin’ hard to keep me outta hell
But whiskey tastes better when you chase it with a beer
But I ain’t tellin’ nothing new to nobody here
2. “You Make It Easy,” Jason Aldean (2017)
Written by Morgan Wallen, Tyler Hubbard, Brian Kelley, Jordan Schmidt
Written by Wallen, along with Florida Georgia Line‘s Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard, and Jordan Schmidt, “You Make It Easy” was recorded by Jason Aldean and released on his eighth album, Rearview Town. The soulful ballad, which hit No. 1 on the Country Airplay chart, unravels all the ways a better half can become one’s saving grace.
You took all my rough around the edges
Never let it ruffle up your feathers, angel
Yeah, I’m down for life, you got me wrapped around your finger
And I like it just in case you can’t tell
You make it easy lovin’ up on you
Make it easy with every little thing you do
You’re my sunshine in the darkest days
My better half, my savin’ grace
You make me who I wanna be
You make it easy
3. “The Fall,” Dallas Smith (2019)
Written by Morgan Wallen, Jeff Hyde, Ryan Tyndell
Wallen co-wrote the title track for Canadian country singer Dallas Smith’s EP, The Fall. Along with Wallen, Hardy, Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley (Florida Georgia Line), Brett Eldredge, Randy Houser, and Steven Lee Olsen are some of the other featured songwriters on Smith’s EP.
We were flying on a warm breeze
And before we knew that June turned into July
Which flew by, then that August wind came blowin’ in
And it blew by, it was a good time
And then it was goodbye
4. “Heartless,” Diplo, featuring Morgan Wallen (2019)
Written by Morgan Wallen, Diplo, King Henry, Ernest Keith Smith, Charlie Handsome, Ryan Hurd
Marking his first country music project in 2019, DJ and musician Diplo presented a collection of songs under his real name, Thomas Wesley. Diplo Presents Thomas Wesley, Chapter 1: Snake Oil features collaborations with Thomas Rhett, Young Thug, Noah Cyrus, Zac Brown, Jonas Brothers, and Orville Peck, among others. Wallen co-wrote the single “Heartless” and is also featured on the track and in the video.
Wallen later re-recorded “Heartless” as more of a country song, and included it on his second album Dangerous: The Double Album.
Monday night was definitely not our night
Tuesday night was just another fight
Wednesday, I thought everything would change
Thursday came and it was still the same
Friday night, we went out on the town
Saturday, we should have burned it down
Sunday morning came and now you’re gone
I should probably know this shit by now
5. “Broadway Girls,” Lil Durk, featuring Morgan Wallen (2021)
Written by Morgan Wallen, Lil Durk, Eskeerdo, Charlie Handsome, Ernest Keith Smith, Grady Block, Rocky Block, Joe Reeves
Released on rapper Lil Durk’s seventh album, 7220, “Broadway Girls” made it into the Top 10 on the country chart and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. In the video, Wallen and Durk can be seen hanging out at Jason Aldean’s Kitchen + Rooftop bar—a nod to one of the verses, I met her down at Aldean’s—and walking down Broadway in downtown Nashville.
They town just told me, “Don’t trust ’em”
Broadway girls a trap
They on me, they tryna finesse me
They see me with Morgan and know that I rap
My horse is Porsches, turnin’ me on
I jump on a horse, she get on the back
I went to the bar to go buy her a drink
She listen to P!nk, she told me she not into rap
6. “Wild As Her,” Tyler Joe Miller (2022)
Written by Morgan Wallen, Brett Tyler, Kelly Archer
After releasing his 2020 debut EP, Sometimes I Don’t, But Sometimes I Do, Canadian country singer Tyler Joe Miller continued releasing a number of singles, including “Wild As Her” in 2022. Co-written by Wallen, the song isn’t a “typical love song,” according to Miller. “It’s the hopeful chase of a guy trying to get, and keep, this girl around who’s an untameable rolling stone,” he said.
She never wanted to be white picket fenced in
Her hearts like a feather in a Tennessee wind
A sea salt breeze’ll bring her to life
And all them other boys say she’s a goodbye girl
She’ll wreck your world
Leave before the mornin’ sun
But here she is free layin’ next to me
‘Cause I ain’t tryna tame her love
7. “Brown Eyes Baby,” Keith Urban (2022)
Written by Morgan Wallen, Josh Thompson, Rodney Clawson, Will Bundy
The third single off Keith Urban‘s upcoming 12th album, “Brown Eyes Baby” is a track the singer said he instantly “fell in love” with once he heard it. “It was just one of those visceral reactions to a song that sometimes, it’s more about the way I feel hearing it than anything else,” said Urban. “I’m not really analyzing why I like the song. I just loved it.”
Urban added, “If I’m looking for a song that I haven’t written, it’s gonna be just having a reaction to it that I feel. I know this song. I know this person. I know this scene. This song feels like me.”
You made up your mind
Got off the couch
You did up your hair, now you’re going out
You put on that party dress
Even though your heart’s a mess
Your friends swung by
You jumped in the car
You walked in here and now here we are
Puttin’ the hurtin’ on some José
And catchin’ up while the band plays
You say you miss the girl you used to be
Bet I can find her if you let me
Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images
