Six months after its historic 2021 festival in October, Country Thunder is back this weekend to pick up where it left off.
The four-day festival featuring one of country music’s most popular and controversial artists and two fan-favorite headlining acts returns to its April run, which was interrupted in 2020 and 2021 courtesy of the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival runs Thursday, April 7, through Sunday, April 10, at the festival grounds in Florence.
After a tumultuous 2021, Morgan Wallen is selling out shows, including his Saturday performance at Country Thunder in Arizona.
Riley Green (“If It Wasn’t for Trucks,” “I Wish Grandpas Never Died”) headlines the opening night Thursday — entertainment begins at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, and at noon Friday through Sunday — with a supporting cast that includes newcomer Nolan Sotillo, Canadian singer-songwriter Lindsay Ell and veteran country singer Randy Houser.
This is Country Thunder’s 29th Arizona festival, and it includes the return of popular headliners Blake Shelton on Friday and Florida Georgia Line on Sunday.
But Saturday might turn out to be the biggest night in the festival’s Arizona history when Morgan Wallen headlines.
Blanco Brown, the singer-songwriter-rapper who has produced for such superstars as Chris Brown and Pitbull, had a viral hit in 2019 with "The Git Up" dance song.
Wallen was supposed to headline the canceled 2020 event, and organizers expected he would be on the lineup for the rescheduled 2021 festival. But he ended up canceling almost all of his touring after he was caught on video using the “N” word in February 2021.
The fallout was swift: Wallen’s record label suspended him, and radio and streaming services dropped his music. He apologized a couple of times and announced that he was canceling all of his 2021 shows, with the exception of a few events.
Gabby Barrett is slated to perform on the second day of the four-day 2022 Country Thunder festival.
But country music and his fans weren’t ready to “cancel” the young country artist.
Last March, Big Machine Records released Wallen’s sophomore album “Dangerous: The Double Album.” The album debuted at No. 1 on Billboard, where it remained for 10 weeks.
To date, album sales have topped 3 million (triple platinum), and the album has been streamed more than 3 billion times, according to Rolling Stone magazine. In March, “Dangerous” earned the 28-year-old Wallen the Academy of Country Music’s coveted Album of the Year award.
Wallen resumed touring this February, and the fan reaction has been nothing shy of remarkable. Every show he has played from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena to New York’s Madison Square Garden has sold out.
The same is true for his show in Florence on Saturday.
Headliner Blake Shelton is returning for the 2022 Country Thunder.
Last October’s festival set ticket sales records for the Arizona event, one of seven Country Thunder festivals held annually throughout North America. Attendance topped 30,000 each night to see headliners Dustin Lynch, Luke Combs, Eric Church and Old Dominion.
In addition to Thursday’s lineup, the 2022 festival includes:
Friday — Jackson Dean, James Barker Band, Phil Vassar, Michael Ray, Gabby Barrett and Blake Shelton
Saturday — Tyler Braden, MacKenzie Porter, Blanco Brown, Tracy Lawrence, Hardy and Morgan Wallen
Sunday — Maggie Rose, Sawyer Brown, Jameson Rodgers, Chase Rice and Florida Georgia Line.
4 fun facts about Country Thunder
1. Tucson country singer Drew Cooper is among at least 16 independent regional and national acts performing on side stages throughout the festival.
2. In addition to the Jumbotrons, the main stage will have video walls that will make it easier for folks in the festival grounds to see the artists.
3. New to this year’s festival: an adult jumping castle. We can only imagine.
4. File this under you may not know him, but: Blanco Brown might not have the immediate name recognition as others on the Country Thunder lineup, but you surely know his music. The singer-songwriter-rapper who has produced for such superstars as Chris Brown and Pitbull, had a viral hit in 2019 with “The Git Up” dance song, which had more than 143 million YouTube views and had people of all shades of country music doing his dance.
