A Thousand Horses, “Preachin’ to the Choir”
This song was included on the group’s 2018 EP Bridges. Wallen wrote the song with Heather Morgan and songwriting duo The Warren Brothers.
Morgan Wallen: Songs You Didn’t Know He Wrote
Written by djfrosty on July 21, 2023
Morgan Wallen has become a commercial supernova, thanks to hits like “Last Night,” which just logged its 14th week atop the Billboard Hot 100. His two most recent albums — 2021’s Dangerous: The Double Album and 2023’s One Thing at a Time — both entrenched themselves atop the Billboard 200. Dangerous: The Double Album landed at No. 3 on Billboard’s 2022 Year-End Albums list, just behind albums from Bad Bunny and Adele.
On the road, Wallen’s One Thing at a Time tour has been selling out arenas and stadiums across the country, and is slated to visit cities across Canada later this year.
Though he’s a formidable sales and touring force, Wallen is also a songwriter at heart. In addition to writing many of his own hits, Wallen has been a contributor to songs recorded by other artists.
While some of those songs, such as Diplo’s “Heartless,” also feature Wallen is also a featured vocalist, he is a part of the songwriting crew fueling them as well. He’s similarly penned songs recorded by Keith Urban, Jason Aldean and more.
Wallen previously told Billboard of songwriting, “I’m just thankful that I get to write about my life and the things I grew up believing in and valuing. Honest, [country music] is honest.”
He told The Bobby Bones show of his approach to writing, “An idea for a song can spur from a lot of things. For me, it comes a lot from people talking in a conversation. They’ll say something and it’ll click in my head like, ‘That’s a song idea title.’ But most things I write are from experience or something that I’ve seen.”
Here, we look at 10 songs Wallen co-wrote, which other artists recorded.
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Dustin Lynch, “Party Song”
The song was included on Lynch’s 2017 album Current Mood. Wallen wrote the song with Craig Wiseman and Brett Tyler.
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Michael Ray, “Workin’ on It”
This track was included on Ray’s 2023 EP Dive Bars and Broken Hearts. Wallen is a co-writer on the track, alongside Josh Osborne, Michael Hardy and Jesse Frasure.
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Florida Georgia Line, “Like You Never Had It”
This song was an album cut on FGL’s 2019 album Can’t Say I Ain’t Country. Wallen wrote this track with Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley, as well as Mark Holman.
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Kane Brown, “Rockstars”
Wallen and fellow songwriter Brock Berryhill wrote this track, which was included on the deluxe edition of Brown’s self-titled debut project. That album also included some of Brown’s early hit singles, “Heaven” and “What Ifs,” featuring Lauren Alaina.
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Diplo (feat. Wallen), “Heartless”
This song, a collaboration between music producer/DJ Diplo and Wallen, reached the top 30 on the Hot 100 chart in 2020. Wallen wrote the song with Thomas Wesley Pentz (aka Diplo), Henry Allen, Ernest K. Smith and Ryan Hurd. The song was included on Diplo’s first country-flavored project, Diplo Presents Thomas Wesley, Chapter 1: Snake Oil.
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Lil Durk (feat. Morgan Wallen), “Broadway Girls”
Wallen is featured on this collab with Lil Durk, which Wallen also had a hand in writing, along with Alexander Izquierdo, Durk Banks, Ernest K. Smith, Grady Block, Joe Reeves, Rocky Block and Ryan Vojtesak. In 2021, the song debuted at No. 1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
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Jason Aldean, “You Make It Easy”
This sultry blues-tinged ballad peaked in the top 5 on the Hot Country Songs chart in 2018. Wallen wrote this song with Jordan Schmidt, Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley.
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Corey Kent, “Wild as Her”
This song was originally recorded by artist Tyler Joe Miller, before Kent recorded his own version of the song, which reached the top 5 on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart and made its entrance on the Billboard Hot 100. Wallen wrote the song with Brett Tyler and Kelly Archer.
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Keith Urban, “Brown Eyes Baby”
“Brown Eyes Baby” peaked just outside the top 10 on Country Airplay this June. Wallen wrote the song with Josh Thompson, Rodney Clawson and Will Bundy.