It hasn’t taken long for Morgan Wallen to put controversy behind him and become one of the most popular country music performers in the nation.
BetTexas.com took a break from covering Texas sports betting issues and utilized Billboard.com’s 2022 Top Country Artists on the year-end charts to develop a list of the Top 50 country music artists. Once obtaining the list, we used Google Trends to find the most popular country music artists in the state of Texas over the past 12 months (June 2022-June 2023).
Texas’ Favorite Country Singers
Wallen’s Newest Album a Big Hit
Wallen is way out in front of Texas native George Strait in second place, Luke Combs in third, Zach Bryan in fourth and then Lainey Wilson and Cody Johnson tied for fifth.
The release of Wallen’s third album, “One Thing at a Time,” on March 3 has propelled him to higher popularity. All 36 tracks entered the Billboard Top 100 upon its release and the single “Last Night” has been a staple at No. 1 for the past 17 weeks and 18 total.
Soon after the release of his second album in January 2021, “Dangerous: The Double Album,” Wallen got in trouble because of a video in which he used a racial slur. That kept the popular album from being considered for many awards as the former contestant on “The Voice” made various apologies and donations in efforts to atone for his mistake.
Wallen is currently on his “One Night At A Time World Tour” across North America this summer and fall. He’s currently scheduled to be back in Texas on Nov. 16 at the Moody Center in Austin and on Nov. 18 at Minute Maid Park in Houston.
He’ll end his 2023 tour with a Dec. 3 date at London’s O2 Arena.
Strait Still the King to Many
Strait needs little introduction, and any true Texan will swear he’s the most popular country music star all day, every day and there’s no questioning that. Wallen’s popularity would be little more than a fad to many older Texans and quite an upset if the state had such odds on Texas betting apps.
Strait, 71, has been an influential artist since 1981 by amassing 60 No. 1 hit songs across 30 studio albums. He’s the modern-day king of country music by many standards.
Strait has been limited on the road since his 2014 “The Cowboy Rides Away” tour, but he’s scheduled some stadium shows this year with Chris Stapleton and Little Big Town in Seattle, Denver, Nashville and Tampa, Fla. He’s also has two shows planned for Nov. 17-18 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth.
Combs has been performing since 2014 and his debut album, “This One’s For You,” put him on the charts in 2017. It was certified five times platinum and spent a record 50 weeks at No. 1. He’s up to four albums, with two in the past two years with “Gettin’ Old” in 2023 and “Growin’ Up” in 2022. Combs is currently touring America, playing at AT&T Stadium in Arlington on March 25, but he’s off to Australia, New Zealand and Europe from Aug. 9 through two shows at London’s O2 Arena in late October.
Bryan’s rise since 2017 from the U.S. Navy to his first major release on May 20, 2022, with “American Heartbreak” is an inspiring story. His first album “DeAnn” was dedicated to his mother and recorded in an Airbnb in 2019. His latest album has produced three strong singles, including the No. 1 hit “Something in the Orange.” He’s currently on tour across the country with Texas dates scheduled for Fort Worth on Oct. 20 and near College Station at Snook on Oct. 21.
Author
Douglas Pils has been a sports journalist for 30 years in Texas, Arkansas and New York having worked for the San Antonio Express-News, the Associated Press, The Dallas Morning News and Newsday. He most recently ran the Student Media Department at Texas A&M for eight years.
