Isbell to donate his share of Morgan Wallen sales to the NAACP

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Jason Isbell says he’s going to donate the money he makes from Morgan Wallen’s cover of his song “Cover Me Up ”at the NAACP.

Wallen, who has had the country’s No. 1 album in the past four weeks, was filmed last week saying a racial slur, but sales of his record have increased. after radio stations removed it from their playlists.

Isbell, a popular American artist and former member of the Drive-By Truckers, wrote “Cover Me Up”, which Wallen included on the cover of his second album, “Dangerous: The Double Album”.

Isbell published on social networks Wednesday that he was not going to keep his share of those sales.

“I decided to donate everything I’ve done so far on this album to the Nashville chapter of @NAACP. Thank you for contributing to a good cause, my friends, ”he wrote.

Wallen had performed a cover version of “Cover Me Up” for some time before recording his own version, which jumped into the Top 15 of the Hot Country Songs chart and achieved platinum status by the Recording Industry Association of America.

His album was already setting streaming records before the video of him using the TMZ insult was released. This is the first country album to spend four weeks atop the Billboard 200 since 2003, when Shania Twain’s album “Up!” spent five weeks at the top.

Wallen apologized for using racist language and his label, Big Loud Records, said Wallen has been suspended, but none have made any further announcements since last week. A rep for Wallen and his label did not immediately return a message requesting comment.