NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Jason Isbell says he will donate the money he earns from Morgan Wallen’s cover of his song “Cover Me Up” to NAACP.
Wallen, who has had the country’s No. 1 album for the past four weeks, was filmed last week saying racial slander, but his record sales have increased after radio stations removed it from their playlists.
Isbell, a popular American artist and former member of Drive-By Truckers, wrote “Cover Me Up”, which Wallen included as a cover on his second year album, “Dangerous: The Double Album”.
Isbell posted on social networks on Wednesday he would not keep his share of those sales.
“I decided to donate everything I have done so far from this album to the Nashville chapter of @NAACP. Thanks for helping a good cause, guys, ”he wrote.
Wallen had been doing a cover version of “Cover Me Up” for a while before recording his own version, which jumped to the Top 15 on the Hot Country Songs chart and won platinum status by the Recording Industry Association of America.
His album was already breaking streaming records before the release of his video using the slander of TMZ. It is the first country album to spend four weeks at the top of the Billboard 200 chart since 2003, when the album “Up!” Shania Twain spent five weeks at the top.
Wallen apologized for using racist language and his record label, Big Loud Records, said Wallen was suspended, but neither has made new announcements since last week. A representative for Wallen and his record company did not immediately return a message asking for comment.