If Morgan Wallen’s the Problem, We Don’t Want a Solution:

When Morgan Wallen dropped One Thing at a Time in 2023, it felt like a watershed moment. Nearly every track from the 36-song set appeared on the Billboard Hot 100, marking him as the rare country artist able to dominate charts. Wallen's 2021 double album Dangerous also sent an unprecedented number of songs onto the charts. Now, in 2025, Wallen has raised the bar yet again.

A Record-Breaking Fourth Album

On May 16, 2025, Wallen released his highly anticipated fourth studio album. By July 18, all 37 tracks had appeared across major charts, including the Billboard 200, Hot Country Songs, Apple Music Country, and even the UK charts.

By August 15, 2025, the album had already gone gold in Australia and reached 3× platinum in Canada, a staggering feat in such a short span.

A Historic First for Country Music

Wallen now stands alone as the only country artist in history to send an entire album’s worth of tracks onto the charts in multiple countries in such a short window of time.

Six of those songs from I'm the Problem had already debuted or climbed into the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 even before the full album’s release, proving the intense demand for his music.

Other Artists who reached this feat

However, Morgan Wallen isn’t the only artist who’s had nearly or all an entire album’s worth of songs chart. A few other stars have pulled this off, often thanks to streaming making every track eligible for Billboard charts. Here are some big examples: 

 Drake

• His 2018 album Scorpion saw all 25 tracks chart on the Billboard Hot 100 at some point. In fact, Certified Lover Boy (2021) debuted 9 songs in the top 10 in its first week a record.
  
  

Taylor Swift

• With Midnights (2022), all 20 tracks from the deluxe “3AM Edition” charted on the Hot 100. She became the first artist ever to hold all Top 10 spots in the Hot 100 at once.
  
  

Post Malone

• Beerbongs & Bentleys (2018) had 18 of its 18 tracks hit the Hot 100.
  
  

Olivia Rodrigo

• Her debut Sour (2021) saw all 11 tracks chart.
  
  

Juice WRLD

• After his posthumous album Legends Never Die (2020) dropped, all 21 tracks entered the Hot 100.
  
  

Lil Uzi Vert

• Eternal Atake (2020) had every song debut on the Hot 100 the week of release.
  
  

The Weeknd

• Starboy (2016) and After Hours (2020) both had most of their songs chart, with After Hours placing 14 songs on the Hot 100 simultaneously.
  
  

Wallen is in rare company, but this “album takeover” trend has become more common in the streaming era.

Beyoncé

Beyoncé built her career in the single-driven 2000s, so her albums always carried big hits. I Am… Sasha Fierce (2008) gave us “Single Ladies” and “Halo,” while Lemonade (2016) was a cultural moment that had nearly every track enter the Hot 100. However, not all her albums produced full Hot 100 takeovers. Even Lemonade, despite its surprise release and critical acclaim, didn’t quite get every track on the chart,  though under slightly different conditions, it easily could have.

To fans, it looked like Wallen had achieved something no country star before him had managed: turning an entire album into hits. But what makes this possible today, and why didn’t Michael Jackson, The Beatles, or Motown stars ever manage the same feat? 

The Streaming Factor

The short answer is: streaming changed everything...

Billboard now allows every track on an album to chart, thanks to Spotify, Apple Music, and other platforms. If millions of people stream an album the week it drops, every single track can rack up enough numbers to land on the Hot 100. That’s how Wallen, along with Drake, Taylor Swift, and Olivia Rodrigo, can dominate the entire chart with one release. In earlier decades, that wasn’t possible. Billboard only counted official singles. Unless a song was released to radio or sold as a single, it had no shot at the Hot 100.

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson came as close as anyone in the pre-streaming era. His 1982 album Thriller had seven Top 10 singles out of nine total tracks , a record that still stands. A few years later, Bad (1987) became the first album to generate five consecutive No. 1 singles.

If today’s rules had applied in the ‘80s, it’s almost certain that every track on Thriller would have charted. Songs like “Baby Be Mine” and “The Lady in My Life” never had a chance under the old system, but they likely would have charted from streaming alone.

The Beatles

No one in history has had a stronger run on the singles charts than The Beatles. In April 1964, they held all Top 5 positions on the Hot 100, a feat still unmatched. But their most celebrated albums, like Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road, never had the chance to chart every track individually. Under today’s rules, it’s hard to imagine songs like “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” “A Day in the Life,” or “Here Comes the Sun” not charting instantly.

Motown Stars

Motown in the 1960s and ‘70s was built on a singles-first model. Artists like Diana Ross & The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, and Marvin Gaye often released just one or two singles per album, keeping a steady flow of hits on radio.

While these stars racked up dozens of No. 1s, the idea of every track from an album hitting the charts wasn’t possible in their time. An album like Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On (1971), though critically adored and packed with classics, only saw a few of its songs become singles.

What If Today’s Rules Existed Then?

Looking back, it’s clear that many classic albums would have dominated the charts if streaming-era rules had existed:

• Thriller (Michael Jackson) — all 9 tracks would have charted.
  
  

• Abbey Road (The Beatles) — songs like “Something,” “Here Comes the Sun,” and “Come Together” would have pushed the entire album onto the Hot 100.
  
  

• What’s Going On (Marvin Gaye) — every track is now considered a classic, and streams today prove it could have charted in full.