Last year, Morgan Wallen’s foundation surprised a teacher at Adrian Burnett Elementary School with $20,000.
The East Tennessee native and country music superstar is all set to perform for two nights at Neyland Stadium Sept. 20 and 22. Tickets for Wallen’s concert went on sale through Ticketmaster 11 a.m. July 17.
Wallen who is from Sneedville, Tennessee graduated in 2011 from Gibbs High School in Knoxville. His ties to the community are strong. When he announced the concert, he wrote on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that he’s “coming home.”
His foundation – the Morgan Wallen Foundation – routinely gives back to East Tennessee, especially to support access to sports and music.
“It (the foundation) centers on things closest to Morgan’s heart,” Kathleen Flaherty, executive director of the foundation told Knox News. “Sports and music have really shaped who he is.”
In the last two years, the foundation has donated nearly $400,000 in both areas – sports and music. In Knoxville, the foundation has donated to Gibbs High School choral program, Powell High School band and Emerald Youth Music program.
For his mom Lesli Wallen, a retired teacher, giving back to schools is extra special.
“As a teacher, seeing how great needs are in schools, it makes me feel really good to give back,” she said.
Wallen’s upcoming performance at Neyland Stadium is special in many ways.
By having his concert there, he joins an extremely elite band of performers because only a handful have had the privilege of performing at the stadium in its over a century-long legacy.
The first concert at the stadium was held decades after it opened and was by none other than the iconic King of Pop Michael Jackson in August, 1984. The last concert there was pre-pandemic in 2019 when Garth Brooks broke records selling over 75,000 tickets on the first day, and by the day of the concert, 84,000 tickets.
Performing at Neyland Stadium is “the ultimate dream” Lesli Wallen told Knox News.