Starting the new year back on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Morgan Wallen released a song called called “Smile” on New Year’s Eve, and today, it officially debuted at #27 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, which encompasses all musical genres. That’s after only three days of tracking due to the short holiday week, so this one will likely only continue to climb, especially after a full week of being out.
Morgan has three #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, including “Love Somebody” (which debuted at #1 on the chart), “I Had Some Help” with Post Malone, and “Last Night.”
Don’t be surprised to see this one at the top there sooner rather than later…
Billboard Hot 100: #27(new) Smile, @MorganWallen.
— chart data (@chartdata) January 7, 2025
From a production standpoint, “Smile” is pretty simple compared to a lot of Morgan’s other music, and lyrically, it’s definitely deeper and more introspective than some of his most popular songs like “Cowgirls.”
Written by Morgan along with Rocky Block, John Byron, Ernest, Ryan Vojtesak and Luis Witkiewitz, it finds Morgan reflection on a relationship that was portrayed a certain way for the pictures than what it was really like in real life:
“It was good to see you smile
Girl you know it’s been a while
It was good to see you smile
Even if it was just for the picture.”
Morgan also released an accompanying music video, which finds him changing things up during a late night TV show appearance, which is hosted by a character plated by personality Caleb Pressley. The talk show in the video is called Dark Til Daylight, which had a few fans wondering if that could be a hint at a possible album title.
I could certainly see that being the case, and I think Morgan will definitely be putting out a new album sometime in 2025 (I don’t have any insider information, just a hunch).
You can listen to the song below.
In terms of Morgan’s 2024, he recently wrapped up his record-breaking One Night At A Time Tour, in addition to being named Entertainer of the Year at the 2024 CMA Awards (though he hasn’t acknowledged the award yet). He’s released a few singles last year too, including “Lies Lies Lies” and “Love Somebody,” both of which topped the charts and added to his incredible catalog of 16 #1 hits so far. “I Had Some Help,” his duet with Post Malone, also became a massive hit and went #1 on multiple charts.
Morgan obviously had his troubles this year as well, with his arrest back in April for throwing a chair off the rooftop of Eric Church’s downtown Nashville bar, Chief’s. But after originally being charged with three felony counts of reckless endangerment, Morgan entered a plea earlier this month to two misdemeanor charges and was sentenced to two years of probation along with 7 days in a DUI education center.
He’s off to another hot start with his music, and his momentum seemingly continues to grow with each release, regardless of what’s going on in his personal life.