Bailey Zimmerman Recalls His First Morgan Wallen Meeting

Bailey Zimmerman gathered with some of his songwriter friends yesterday afternoon (6/5) in Nashville to celebrate the number-one chart success of two of his songs from 2022, "Fall In Love" and "Rock and A Hard Place."

Before the celebration began, Bailey chatted with us about his incredible last few years in country music and how he met his tourmate Morgan Wallen for the very first time. Zimmerman told us that he was on a Zoom call with his record label as he was driving up to Big Loud Records in Nashville to write some songs, and he saw Ernest in the parking lot and wanted to meet him. He said that he told his label he wanted to wrap up the call to say hello to the songwriter, but it was not to be. However, there was someone else in the parking lot that said hi to him.

Bailey explained, "I look up, and there's Morgan walking to me out of his truck. And I said, 'Hey man.' And he's like, 'Hey man, you're Bailey,' and I'm like, 'Holy crap, you know my name. Holy crap Morgan, I'm a massive fan,' and he's like, 'Dude, I'm a massive fan of you; you've got that song 'Fall In Love,' right?' And I'm like, 'Yeah, I freaking do.' And he's like, 'Yeah, I've been jamming that in my truck I and my son have been jamming that song, man; he loves it.'"

Zimmerman added, "What a way to meet somebody, you know. That's what really made me fall in love with him as a person. He's never treated me wrong one time. He always shoots you straight; that's the thing; he's a real dude."

Bailey also could not help but defend Wallen, who has had it rough in the media since the racial slur incident in February of 2021. He noted, "Man, we're all humans. We're not robots. People are so ruthless out in the world, and what I've seen from him is like just nothing but love. He took me under his wing and like, 'Oh, you need help, alright. Oh, you want to meet Eric Church? Perfect. Let me get you with him and let me do this for you,' and he never asks for anything in return. He's always just doing stuff for me."

Zimmerman thinks for a moment and adds, "So I'm gonna get him a pair of sneakers. Being on tour with Morgan is amazing, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. Him, HARDY, Ernest, they are all massive idols of mine, and I can't wait to get back at it."

Newcomer Bailey Zimmerman is heating up the country charts as his song "Rock and A Hard Place" enters the top five this week. Bailey is also preparing to open shows on Morgan Wallen's "One Night At A Time" tour in Australia next week.

Zimmerman has already logged over 400 million global streams, notched two entries on the Billboard Hot 100, and sold out his first headline tour.

Bailey grew up in the small town of Louisville, Illinois. His success began when a garage-recorded demo of his song "Never Comin' Home" amassed over a million plays overnight. Zimmerman's other singles included "Fall In Love," "Rock and A Hard Place," and "Where It Ends." He released a nine-song debut EP, Leave the Light, on October 14, 2022, via Warner Music Nashville. It debuted in the top ten of the Billboard 200.

Bailey recently recorded a special rendition of "God's Gonna Cut You Down" as part of Nashville Soccer Club's celebration of its brand-new Man in Black Kit, honoring legendary country music icon Johnny Cash.

And today (3/8), Zimmerman became a double nominee at the 2023 CMT Music Awards, where he is nominated for Male Video of the Year for "Rock and a Hard Place" and Male Breakout Video of the Year for "Fall In Love."

Here's a look at some things he has been up to in the last year.