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Country star Morgan Wallen is known just as much for his work-hard, play-hard lifestyle as he is for keeping a close circle of friends.
His recent arrest at a bar in Nashville, Tennessee, put a spotlight on his inner circle, which includes some of the biggest names in the industry: Hardy, Ernest and Eric Church.
Ernest, who collaborated with Wallen on “Flower Shops” in 2022, mocked his buddy with a post shared on Instagram, poking fun at the “Wasted on You” singer’s wild night out last week on Broadway after he allegedly threw a chair off the rooftop bar Chief’s.
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Morgan Wallen knows how to have a good time with good people. (Toni Anne Barson)
“Alexa, play ‘The Chair’ by George Strait,” he wrote on social media. The video showed Ernest driving a car while listening to his song “Would If I Could,” featuring Lainey Wilson.
“When Morgan asks me if I wanna go to Broadway…” he captioned the clip.
Ernest shared the post one day after Wallen, 30, was arrested on April 7 and charged with three felony counts by the Metro Nashville Police Department when a chair he allegedly threw off the roof of the six-story Chief’s bar landed on Broadway near two police officers.
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A photo of Wallen outside the bar with police was published by TMZ.
During an appearance on the “Bussin’ with the Boys” podcast last year, Jelly Roll, who will soon begin touring with the “Last Night” singer, boasted about Wallen’s buddies and their unshakable bond.
“I’ve said since day 1, Ernest, Hardy and Morgan have created a sense of actual genuine friendship in the music business that hasn’t been seen since how Waylon and Willie were with each other,” he said. Host Taylor Lewan clarified, “You’re saying the best combination right now is Morgan, Hardy and Ernest?”
“Well, yeah, but it’s like because of their chemistry and real friendship,” Jelly Roll noted. “Listen, I could bore you all nerding out about this. The way Morgan took Hardy on the tour last year and then doubled back and brings them both back next year.
Morgan Wallen is photographed with police officers on April 8, 2024. (TMZ.com)
Wallen recently kicked off his “One Night at a Time” tour on April 4. (John Shearer)
“That’s a man who took his friends with him when he got the chance to call his own shots. Because, let me tell you how Nashville works: every booking agent in town was pitching everybody but Hardy and Ernest at one point.”
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Wallen made sure to include Ernest, Hardy and rising country star Bailey Zimmerman on the 17-stadium, 2023 leg of his “One Night at a Time” tour.
Hardy backed up Jelly Roll’s words in a separate interview with “Rock Feed.”
“Yeah, we talk every day. I talk to Ern every day and I talk to Morgan every day, if not every day, five times a week,” he said. Hardy admitted there’s also no competition between the guys in their tight-knit group.
Hardy and Ernest are two of Morgan Wallen’s closest confidants. (John Shearer)
“If Ern wins, I win. And if I win, Morgan wins,” Hardy said. “We all had nothing at the same time and then had something at the same time, and there’s just something cool about, like, coming up together.”
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“There’s no jealous[y] … nothing like that. We all just kind of can’t believe it’s happening to us.”
Hardy, who first found fame as a songwriter before transitioning into a powerhouse country musician, remembered the first time he ever met Wallen. “‘The Way I Talk'” singer was making waves on the radio and Hardy asked his publisher to reach out to Wallen’s team to see if he could “write with this Morgan Wallen kid” at his house one day.
Two weeks later, Wallen “just showed up to my house, and we wrote,” he said on the “Superstar Power Hour” podcast. “He just came over and wrote, and then we went to Martin’s Barbecue after. I think we really hit it off that day. We could tell we were going to be friends.”
In addition to being a country star, Hardy has written songs for Blake Shelton, Florida Georgia Line and Chris Lane. (John Shearer)
Eric Church started as one of Wallen’s heroes and quickly became a friend. The dynamic duo has collaborated on music, and most recently, Wallen was infamously arrested at Church’s Chief’s bar in Nashville.
Morgan admitted that Church has become “a big part of my life” in a 2023 interview with Music Mayhem. “We don’t talk every day, but we talk weekly. I respect him so much, and look up to him so much, and now I have access to his knowledge and just things that he’s been through.”
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He added, “Mostly, we just have a great friendship. We joke around. We laugh just like most friends do, but I also have him as someone who is looking out for me in a way, as someone who has been through this before. And yeah, [I’m] super grateful for that.”
Church appears as a writer on “Quittin’ Time,” and the pair collaborated on “Man Made A Bar,” and in two weeks, they’ll both play headlining sets in the desert at the Stagecoach Music Festival.
Wallen considers Eric Church one of his heroes. (John Shearer)
Eric didn’t shy away from bragging about Wallen and previously told Billboard, “He’s real damn good, and he’s authentic. That’s the key. Morgan is not trying to be somebody else. He’s just doing him. It’s refreshing to see and hear.”
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The day after Wallen’s arrest at his rooftop bar, Church had his own fun with the marquee at Chief’s: “Our pigs fly, our chairs don’t. Rodney Scott’s whole hog rooftop BBQ,” the sign said outside of Church’s spot on Broadway.
Wallen was booked into jail around 12:36 a.m. local time. The “Whiskey Glasses” singer was released around 3:30 a.m. His bond was set at $15,250, according to the Metro Nashville Police Department.
Chief’s in Nashville poked fun at the Morgan Wallen debacle. (Chief’s Bar Instagram)
“Country artist Morgan Wallen, 30, was booked early today on 3 cts of felony reckless endangerment and 1 ct of misdemeanor disorderly conduct for throwing a chair from the rooftop of Chief’s Bar Sun night,” the Metro Nashville Police Department posted on X, formerly Twitter. “The chair landed on Broadway, close to 2 MNPD officers. His bond: $15,250.”
“At 10:53 p.m. Sunday evening,Morgan Wallen was arrested in downtown Nashville for reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct. He is cooperating fully with authorities,” Wallen’s attorney, Worrick Robinson, told Fox News Digital.
Tracy Wright is an entertainment reporter for Fox News Digital. Send story tips to Tracy.Wright@fox.com.
