Luke Combs will continue his reign as the CMA Entertainer of the Year. The 32-year-old, who won his first Entertainer of the Year trophy in 2021, was once again named the Entertainer of the Year at this year’s CMA Awards as well. Combs shared the category with Miranda Lambert, Chris Stapleton, Carrie Underwood and Morgan Wallen.
“I never, ever know what to say,” Combs said of his win. “I want to thank country music for making my dreams come true. My beautiful, beautiful wife, Nicole. My beautiful four-and-a-half-month-old son, Tex, is at home right now. This is a dream come true. There is nobody in this category that doesn’t deserve to be standing up here. And I am just so thankful … I just cannot believe this. Thank you country music.
“And let me tell you one more thing about tonight: this is my fifth or sixth year being at this awards show, and country sounded more country than it has in a long time tonight,” he added.
Combs also won the CMA Award for Album of the Year, for his Growin’ Up record, which was released in June.
“I was not expecting this,” Combs said when accepting the honor. “I don’t want to waste too much of your time. I’m so thankful anytime I get to stand up here with the real people to be thankful for, these two gentlemen standing behind me, Chip Matthews and Jonathan Singleton. These guys work their tails off on this album. Chip might have slept two hours since we put this record up … Thank y’all so much.”
Combs is heading out on a massive World Tour in 2023, performing 35 concerts in 16 countries, spanning three continents. Riley Green, Lainey Wilson, Flatland Cavalry and Brent Cobb will serve as the opening acts for some dates, with Cody Johnson and Lane Pittman taking over opening act duties for some of the overseas dates as well. The tour will begin on March 25 in Arlington, Texas, and perform in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and more, before wrapping up on October 19 in the UK.
See a complete list of winners for the 2022 CMA Awards here.