Singer-songwriter Jason Isbell said he will donate his earnings from Morgan Wallen’s version of his song “Cover Me Up” to charity after learning that sales of Wallen’s latest album increased after he was caught on video using a racist slur.
“So... A portion of this money goes to me,” Isbell tweeted on Wednesday. “I’ve decided to donate everything I’ve made so far from this album to the Nashville chapter of the @NAACP. Thanks for helping out a good cause, folks.”
Wallen covered Isbell’s 2013 track for Dangerous: The Double Album, which has been No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart since its release in January.
Last week, Wallen was suspended by his record label and removed from playlists at radio stations and streaming services after TMZ posted video in which he is heard referring to someone as a “p***y-a** n****r.”
The 27-year-old country star said he was “embarrassed and sorry” and called it an "unacceptable and inappropriate racial slur that I wish I could take back.” Wallen apologized and promised “to do better.”
According to MRC Data cited by Billboard, sales of Dangerous: The Double Album increased by 104 percent during the week that ended Feb. 4. Song downloads went up by 67 per cent.
Isbell, 42, has won four Grammy Awards for his Americana albums Something More Than Free and The Nashville Sound.