In nearly every measurable way, 2024 was a banner year for country music. Not only was the genre immensely popular (just take a look at Spotify Wrapped data) but all things considered, the overall quality of music was pretty great. Of course, independent (or independent adjacent) artists lead the charge but even in the mainstream things were solid. Chris Stapleton, Cody Johnson, and Megan Moroney all took home hardware at the CMAs and, though they didn't win, Zach Top and The Red Clay Strays were nominated for awards, which is a sign that the Nashville industry may be finally acknowledging that fans want something real in a bad way, as shown by the popularity of Zach Bryan, Tyler Childers, and Sturgill Simpson. While we can talk about the music all day long, another reason that people love country so much are the crazy stories that seemingly always come from the genre, with some of the biggest names also being the wildest characters. Willie Nelson used to shoot bibles on his tour bus, Merle Haggard was a true criminal who spent plenty of time behind bars, Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings spent upwards of $1,000 a day on drugs while living together, heck even America's sweetheart Dolly Parton claims to have fought the woman "Jolene" was written about, and that barely scratches the surface on the incredible number of nearly unbelievable stories country artists have given us throughout the years. Today's crop of artists may not be quite as unhinged but there's certainly still a few wildcards out there, so I want to take a look back on the craziest moments in country music this year, starting with its biggest star and the commotion he caused in downtown Nashville this Spring. Eric Church Opens Nashville Bar Back in April, Morgan Wallen once again found himself in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Eric Church had just recently opened his 6-story Nashville bar name Chief's and Morgan and crew decided to go check it out for themselves. A security guard said he saw Wallen come in through the front door (which was unusual since they have a specific entrance for VIPs) and immediately head up to the rooftop bar. Less than 30 minutes later, he got a call on his radio that somebody had thrown a chair off the rooftop and it had landed just a few feet away from some police officers that were standing outside. He and other bouncers raced upstairs, located the person who threw it, and escorted them out before turning them over to Nashville Metro Police. That person was, of course, Morgan Wallen. The security guard said there was no altercation beforehand and nothing that would have caused him to do this, other than maybe a little bit of liquor talking: "They just say he was being an idiot and just threw it. There really wasn’t no argument or nothing about it. Just him being drunk I feel like. He wasn’t in the right state of mind." @micheal_phillips #fyppppppppppppppppppppppp ♬ original sound - micheal Phillips Will Morgan Wallen Go To Jail? To this day we still don't know why he threw the chair but his little lapse in judgement ended with three charges of reckless endangerment and one of disorderly conduct. After an initial hearing on May 3rd (which Morgan did not attend), the follow-up court date originally scheduled for August 15th was pushed back to December 12th. It was unclear why the hearing was moved but we should get some answers next Thursday when Wallen (who is expected to be present) stands before a judge. We shouldn't expect everything to get wrapped up next week unless his attorneys are able to work out some sort of plea agreement; if the case does go to trial we won't get a resolution until well into next year. "Inside sources" told Life & Style Magazine that Wallen and his attorneys are preparing to spend some time behind bars: "It’s looking bleak at this point. He’s likely to spend time behind bars… I don’t think the prosecutors want him to skate away with no time because people will think it’s because of his celebrity status. Morgan is being told the best scenario is a 30- to 60-day sentence.” I wouldn't be so sure about that... Wallen has been silent on many things of late (like winning Entertainer of the Year) but he did release an official statement a while back to address these allegations: "I didn’t feel right publicly checking in until I made amends with some folks. I’ve touched base with Nashville law enforcement, my family, and the good people at Chief’s. I’m not proud of my behavior, and I accept responsibility. I have the utmost respect for the officers working every day to keep us all safe. Regarding my tour, there will be no change. -MW" Fingers crossed we'll get some more details on what lead up to the moment the chair was thrown because it still just doesn't make any sense to me. Let's also be extremely grateful that it didn't actually land on the officers below because a heavy chair falling 60 feet would cause immense damage, if not death, and we'd be having a much different conversation about what's going to happen to Morgan Wallen. @elizabeth.linerIykyk ? ♬ Last Night (Morgan Wallen vs Chainsmokers Last Night Roadhouse x Skillz ReMix) - Morgan Wallen