Stark Contrast Between Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs Shows Two Ways To Cancel Concert After Losing Voice

Morgan Wallen is the talk of the country music world this week after canceling a concert at Ole Miss on Sunday night. The 29-year-old superstar cited vocal issues and did not perform.

Although the inability to sing is a valid reason for cancelation, the announcement was made after the opening acts had already performed. His show was cancelled just minutes before he was scheduled to take the stage.

Twitter immediately melted down. A lawsuit has since been filed against Wallen in federal court.

The frustration is fair, even though the tickets will be refunded at the point of sale. Oxford is not an easily accessible college town, and people spent a large chunk of money to make the trip to see Wallen perform in the first concert at the Rebels' football stadium.

The agitation is especially reasonable considering all of the rumors that continue to swirl.

Unsubstantiated gossip has alluded to the idea that Wallen couldn't hang after spending the day out on The Square in Oxford. Big Loud Records has since pushed back on similar "false claims" made by a security guard at Sunday's show.

Wallen told a group of girls on Friday night that he was losing his voice. He performed Saturday, but there were moments when his voice was weak.

Soundcheck on Sunday didn't go well and he canceled the show with the following statement:

via @MorganWallen / Instagram

Wallen then rescheduled his next three shows, citing "vocal rest" on Monday night.

via @MorganWallen / Instagram

For Wallen to cancel the concert is one thing. If he couldn't sing, he couldn't sing. Fair enough.

The issue lies in when it was canceled. Vaught-Hemingway Stadium was already packed, fans had spent their money on drinks and food, and his merch stand was already sold out.

It was handled poorly, regardless of whether Wallen actually lost his voice or not. (He did, but it's funnier to pretend that he didn't.)

Morgan Wallen could have learned a thing or two from Luke Combs.

Not to beat a dead horse, but Wallen's cancelation was not the problem. The problem was how it all went down.

On the flip side of things, Combs had a similar situation while playing in Maine back in September. He didn't have his voice, but did not cancel the concert with just minutes to spare.

Instead, Combs came out on stage, issued a formal apology and promised a full refund. He was visibly upset by letting his fans down and struggled to keep the tears away.

And, although his vocals weren't up to the task, Combs still performed an abbreviated set — for free, essentially. He powered through as best as he could.

Combs understood that the cost of attending his concert goes way beyond ticket price. It includes hotel rooms, dinners, babysitters, gas, etc.

So even though he couldn't sing, and refunded the cost of tickets, Combs did what he could. His generosity and heart went a long way with his fans, and there was no fallout from the cancelation.

Wallen's fans are furious with him. There were two ways to handle things, and he (and his P.R. team) should have gone with a play out of Combs' playbook— if Wallen really lost his voice, that is. (He did.)