Morgan Wallen Joins Garth Brooks and Luke Combs in the Country History Books With His Fourth No. 1 Song This Year

Is it getting crowded at the top?

Billboard reported Wednesday that with the chart-topping success of his Ernest collaboration, “Cowgirls,” Morgan Wallen is only the third country artist in history to chart four No. 1 songs in a year.

Luke Combs and Garth Brooks round out the Top 3 with Brooks being the only singer of the trio who accomplished the feat twice. Wallen’s distinction is that each of his four No. 1 songs in 2024 is a collaboration. It’s also possible – even probable – for the East Tennessee native to earn a fifth No. 1 song this year as his new song “Lies Lies Lies,” sits at No. 27 on Billboard’s Country Airplay Chart its third week at radio.

Wallen’s four No. 1 hits in 2024 are: “Mamaw’s House,” Thomas Rhett feat. Wallen (March 23); “Man Made a Bar,” feat. Eric Church (April 20); “I Had Some Help,” Post Malone feat. Wallen (June 29) and “Cowgirls,” feat. ERNEST (July 27).

“I obviously have brought some of my own flavor into the space, and everybody doesn’t necessarily like that. I don’t care because I love it,” Wallen told Billboard in December. “I love being able to incorporate all the types of music that I like. If I had to sing one kind of song for two hours, I’d lose my mind.”

Garth Brooks Says Luke Combs is Doing Things Exactly Right

Combs notched his four No. 1 songs in 2021 – two of which were inspired by his wife, Nicole. The couple married at their South Florida home in 2020.  Combs’ quad of chart-toppers is “Better Together” (Jan. 21); “Forever After All” (June 5); “Cold Beer Calling My Name,” (Jameson Rodgers feat. Combs (Oct. 9), and “Cold as You” (Nov. 27).

TIME named Combs to its 2021 TIME100 Next list, which is a roundup of 100 celebrities across industries the magazine believes are shaping the future. Brooks wrote an essay in tribute to Combs for TIME.

“In this age of self-promotion, Luke Combs is letting everybody else do the talking for him,” Brooks wrote. “If I could pull him over and tell him one thing, it would be to just keep doing what he’s doing … Just follow that music. What resonates with him will resonate with the audience, with me, with everybody who’s listening.”

Garth Brooks is Only Artist to Have Four No. 1 songs in One Year Twice

Of course, Brooks also wrote the proverbial playbook on how to succeed with confidence and grace. Brooks has won more Entertainer of the Year trophies than anyone in country music history and is the top-selling solo artist of all time.

In 1993, the Oklahoman topped the country music charts with: “Somewhere Other Than the Night” (Jan. 16); “That Summer” (July 3); “Ain’t Going Down (Til the Sun Comes Up)” (Sept. 18) and “American Honky-Tonk Bar Association” (Dec. 4).

In 1991, Brooks charted No. 1 career songs, including: “Unanswered Prayers” (Jan. 12); “Two of a Kind, Workin’ on a Full House” (April 6); “The Thunder Rolls” (June 22) and “Shameless” (Nov. 16).
Billboard noted that Brooks was close to having a fifth No. 1 song in each of those years. “Learning to Live Again” landed at No. 2 in 1993 and “Rodeo” at No. 3 in 1991.