Morgan Wallen’s issues with alcohol have again come to the forefront with his latest arrest.
Though the country star wasn’t expected at Eric Church’s newly opened Chief’s on Sunday night, Wallen, 30, quickly made himself known shortly after he arrived at the bar, allegedly throwing a chair from the six-story high Nashville rooftop on April 7. The chair landed next to a police cruiser on Broadway, PEOPLE confirms, and officers soon headed into the venue to apprehend the culprit.
“Morgan is generally a nice, fun person to hang out with, but when he gets going he doesn’t know when to stop,” a source tells PEOPLE. “Morgan and alcohol is a problem and it’s been a problem that keeps coming back around.”
Wallen was previously arrested on public intoxication and disorderly conduct charges in 2020; he issued a public apology and the charges were eventually dropped. In 2021, he spent 30 days in treatment after he was captured on video saying the N-word while drunk on a night out with friends. Following the incident, the “Whiskey Glasses” artist stepped away from alcohol for a time.
The singer-songwriter has often addressed his drinking in his music, most recently on “Born with a Beer in My Hand.” “Everybody says it’s gonna be the death of me / But these days I’m livin’ on the side of alive / Just ’cause I smile through my sobriety / Don’t mean it ain’t chillin’ in the back of my mind / I ain’t sayin’ I swore it off for good / I’m just sayin’ I’m doin’ the best I can / But what do you expect from a redneck? / Hell, I was born with a beer in my hand.”
Wallen — who is expected to open his own spot, called This Bar, in Nashville later this year — was arrested and charged with three counts of reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct, according to court records obtained by PEOPLE, and faced a $15,250 bond.
“He is cooperating fully with authorities,” Wallen’s attorney Worrick Robinson said in a statement on April 8.
His arrest came three days after he kicked off the 2024 leg of his One Night at a Time World Tour in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The “Chasin’ You” singer is set to perform in Nashville May 2 and 3 for shows at Nissan Stadium following a headlining performance at Stagecoach music festival at the end of April.
“I’ve not ever been the one to follow the rules as much as some people,” Wallen told PEOPLE in 2021, explaining that he traces his rebelliousness back to being a preacher’s kid growing up in Sneedville, Tennessee, where “everybody pretty much knows what you do. They expect you to behave a certain way, and if you don’t, they scold you. I absolutely hated that growing up, and I think a lot of my tendencies come from that.”
Wallen is due in court earlier in the day on May 3 for “settlement” in Nashville.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.