Morgan Wallen now has the longest-running Billboard #1 record since 2016

Morgan Wallen has now logged the longest No.1 album on the Billboard chart since 2016 with Dangerous: The Double Album.

The record has officially topped the Billboard 200 chart for the ninth consecutive week after first debuting atop the list on January 23rd. According to MRC Data, Dangerous earned 78,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending March 11 (down 6%). Dangerous now has the most weeks spent at No. 1 since Drake’s Views spent 13 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 in 2016.

It is also one of just four country records to spent at least nine weeks in the lead. Joining Garth Brooks’ Ropin the Wind which spent 18 weeks atop the chart between 1991-92, Billy Ray Cyrus’ Some Gave All at 17 weeks in 1992 and Taylor Swift’s Fearless which clocked 11 weeks between 2008-2009.

The success of Dangerous has been overshadowed by the recent controversy surrounding Morgan Wallen. The country star found himself at the brunt of criticism after footage emerged of him using the N-slur whilst on a night out with friends.

In response to the video, swathes of music industry giants denounced Wallen, with a number of radio stations and streaming services removed his music from their playlists. 

Spotify removed Wallen from at least 14 playlists; including the Hot Country playlist, which has 6.239 million followers, and the Pop Rising playlist with 2.04 million. Wallen’s feature on the former was his main source of discovery on Spotify. Whilst Apple Music Wallen from at least 21 playlists, including Today’s Country and A-List Pop.

Wallen’s label, Big Loud Records, also announced that they would be suspending Wallen’s recording contract “indefinitely.”

“In the wake of recent events, Big Loud Records has made the decision to suspend Morgan Wallen’s recording contract indefinitely,” the company tweeted at the time. “Republic Records fully supports Big Loud’s decision and agrees such behavior will not be tolerated.”

Following the video coming to light, Morgan Wallen took to Instagram stories to issue a lengthy apology video, addressing the controversy and apologising for the hurt he has caused. Within the video, Wallen claims to have spoken to leaders in the black community, admitted that he’s now on the journey to sobriety, acknowledging that “my words matter” whilst asking fans who have been defending him to stop.

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.