Morgan Wallen Never Set a Time Limit for Success

Morgan Wallen has had a year he used to only dream about. The rising star released his freshman If I Know Me album, celebrated his first No. 1 hit, with "Up Down," featuring his good friends, Florida Georgia Line, and opened for both Luke Bryan on his What Makes You Country Tour, as well as Jake Owen on Owen's Life's Whatcha Make It Tour.

"It's been crazy," Wallen told PopCulture.com. "It's been amazing, to be honest. I moved here three-and-a-half, four years ago, and you just want to learn and you want to grow. You want to be better. You want a song on the radio. You want a No. 1. You have all these goals. But I never had a time limit. I never set a goal on when, and it's it's cool that it's happened now. There's been a lot of cool things that have happened this year, and I'm very very thankful for it."

Wallen might have had the best year of his life and career so far, but he's been far too focused to dwell on his success for long.

"I've been so busy," said the 25-year-old. "By the time we finished the year out, we'll have played 200 shows, or something like that along with writing, and all the many things we do, so I don't know if it's sunk in yet. I think probably during the holidays when I get to go home and see my whole family, and everybody's like, 'Wow, you've had a crazy year,' I might shed a tear or two then."

Wallen carefully watched as "Up Down" climbed the charts for more than six months. But when the uptempo tune lingered precariously close to the top spot, the Tennessee native said a prayer and then went to sleep.

"I was at my house," Wallen recalled. "I'd played a show, I think if not every day that week, almost every day. It was a pretty hard-fought battle, as far as who got the No. 1. That night I got home on a Saturday night. We flew home from Tampa Bay; I had just played a show with Luke. I got home and I was like, 'Man, I can either sit here and watch the chart all night, or I can say my prayers like normal and go to bed. So that's what I did. I said, 'Hey God, if it's supposed to happen, it will.' I woke up and we had a No. 1."

Wallen will kick off his own headlining If I Know Me Tour on Jan. 5, with Hardy (who co-wrote "Up Down") serving as his opening act. Find dates at MorganWallen.com.

Photo Credit: Getty Images/Rick Diamond