Country Star Morgan Wallen Covered Linkin Park Classic for First Time in Over Three Years
Country superstar Morgan Wallen sure knows how to entertain a crowd, as demonstrated by last night’s (Aug. 13) headlining show at the three-day Tidalwave Music Festival in Atlantic City, N.J. Although his set included plenty of expected fan favorites – such as a few from 2021’s Dangerous: The Double Album, which he’s currently supporting – he also surprised everyone by incorporating Linkin Park’s beloved “In the End” into a larger medley.
In particular, the multi-song mixture eventually featured several other non-Wallen tracks (for instance, Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love a Bad Name,” Fall Out Boy’s “Sugar, We’re Going Down” and Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar On Me”). However, Wallen’s decision to kick it off with the Hybrid Theory hit was probably the most unexpected part of the whole thing.
Or, so you might think. According to setlist.fm, Wallen has performed this exact same medley nearly 40 times by now, with the first occasion being a concert in Rushville, Ill. at the start of July 2017. Over the next two years or so, he pulled it out fairly regularly, yet prior to last night, he hadn’t done it since March 2019 (in Phoenix, Ariz.).
In any case – and as you can see from Country Cast’s brief YouTube clip below – Wallen and his band do an admirable job making it their own. Evidently, the crowd agreed, as many of them sang along while waiving their hands in the air.
Morgan Wallen Performs Linkin Park's 'In The End' at 2022 Tidalwave Music Festival
What do you think? Did Wallen do justice to Linkin Park’s landmark track? Has he created the country/nü-metal hybrid we never knew we needed?