It hasn’t taken long for Morgan Wallen to put controversy behind him and become one of the top country music performers in the nation.
BetArkansas.com took a break from covering Arkansas sports betting issues to utilize 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 utilized Google Trends to find the most popular country music artists in the state of Arkansas over the past 12 months (June 2022-June 2023).
Arkansas’ Favorite Country Singers
When national operators do come into the sportsbook market, BetArkansas.com will be your home for Arkansas sportsbook promos.
Wallen Way Out in Front
Wallen is way out in front of Tyler Childers in second place and then a trio tied for third in Chris Stapleton, Zach Bryan and Blake Shelton. 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 where 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 not currently scheduled to be back in Arkansas this year, but he’ll be 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 The O2 in London.
Childers’ style is a bit different from Wallen, leaning a bit more on his bluegrass roots from his Kentucky home. He first hit big with the 2017 album “Purgatory” and his biggest hit has been “All Your’n” from 2019.
His current album “Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven” with the single “Angel Band” was released in September 2022 and reached No. 3 on the Billboard country charts. The album is a gospel music experiment with three different versions of the eight songs he and his band recorded.
Childers is currently on tour across the country with many dates sold out. There is no Arkansas date on his schedule, which as of right now runs through the end of September at Red Rocks and Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre in Colorado.
Shelton Going on 20-Plus Years of Popularity
Shelton is one of country music’s biggest stars since his debut in 2001 with 12 studio albums, at least 28 No. 1 hits and a longtime crossover sensation as a judge and coach on “The Voice” singing talent show from 2011 to 2023. Shelton isn’t on a big tour, but he is playing at upcoming festivals in New Jersey, Colorado, Lake Cowichan in Canada and California.
Stapleton’s most recent album “Starting Over” was released in November 2020 and was honored as Album of the Year or Best Country Album by the Country Music Association and the Grammy Awards. He’s currently on an American tour and while there’s not an Arkansas date on the schedule, he’ll be in St. Louis on July 20, Memphis on Aug. 24 and dates in Texas from Oct. 12-28 in Corpus Christi, Houston, San Antonio, Austin and Dallas. There’s one in Tulsa, Okla., on Oct. 26.
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. There aren’t any Arkansas dates, but he’ll be in Tulsa on Aug. 11-12 and there are Texas dates in Fort Worth on Oct. 20 and near College Station in 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.
