NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Country music singer Morgan Wallen has been arrested after police say he threw a chair off the rooftop of a newly opened six-story bar in downtown Nashville.
Wallen, 30, was booked into jail early Monday on three felony counts of reckless endangerment and one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct, Metro Nashville Police tweeted.
The charges stem from a chair being thrown from the rooftop of Chief’s bar and landing on Broadway near two police officers.
An arrest affidavit says the chair landed about 3 feet (1 meter) from officers, who talked to witnesses and reviewed security footage. Witnesses told officers that they watched Wallen pick up a chair, throw it over the roof and laugh about it.
Wallen’s attorney, Worrick Robinson, confirmed the arrest late Sunday and said the singer was cooperating fully with authorities. He was released from custody, and has a court date scheduled May 3.
Wallen is one of the biggest names in contemporary country. His third studio album, 2023’s “One Thing at a Time,” was the most-consumed album in the U.S. last year. It spent 16 weeks at the top of the Billboard 200 in 2023 — which meant he held the top spot for 30% of the year, more time at No. 1 than any other album since Adele’s “21” dominated over a decade ago. It included several top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100: “Last Night,” “You Proof,” “Thinkin’ Bout Me,” “Thought You Should Know,” and “Don’t Think Jesus.”
In 2021, the country singer was suspended indefinitely from his label and saw his music pulled by radio stations and streaming services after video surfaced of him shouting a racial slur. As a result, he was disqualified or limited from several award shows and received no Grammy nominations for his bestselling “Dangerous: The Double Album.”
In 2020, he was arrested on public intoxication and disorderly conduct charges after being kicked out of Kid Rock’s bar in downtown Nashville.
At the time, Wallen posted on social media that he and some friends were “horse-playing” after a few bar stops.
“We didn’t mean any harm, and we want to say sorry to any bar staff or anyone that was affected,” Wallen posted on X. “Thank you to the local authorities for being so professional and doing their job with class. Love y’all.”
