Luke Combs‘ biggest dreams didn’t include the superstar status he now holds, at least not at first. The North Carolina native, fueled by seeing Eric Church perform at a concert in his home state, only knew he wanted his career to be music, in some way. But even he could have never dreamed that he would someday be able to sell out the biggest venues in the world, and have a streak of 14 consecutive No. 1 hits.
“I didn’t believe this would happen,” Combs said backstage at the Grammy Awards. “I believed my job would be music in some capacity. My job would be working with a band or singing background vocals on people’s records, or being a demo singer, or being a songwriter, or working at a publishing company. I just wanted to work in music. I just wanted to have a job that never felt like a job. That was the goal. It wasn’t to be famous, or to be Garth Brooks or anything.”
Combs might not have set his aspirations very high at first, but it didn’t take long for him to realize that he would be able to have a career, and a very, very good one, within country music.
“Those goals, as you continue to hone your craft, the statue that you’re ultimately sculpting begins to reveal itself,” Combs reflects. “But you have to start by chiseling pieces away, and figuring out what it looks like. I went into it with an open mind of, I knew I could do this in some capacity, and then ultimately figuring out what that is.”
Combs has been nominated for a Grammy a total of six times, but has yet to win one. He was nominated three times in the most recent ceremony, including one for Best Country Duo / Group Performance, for “Outrunnin’ Your Memory” with Miranda Lambert. Although he didn’t walk away with a trophy, the 32-year-old was still in attendance, to perform his current single, “Going, Going, Gone.” The song is from Combs’ Growin’ Up album, released last year.
“I’ve always loved this song, and I’ve always believed in it since we wrote it,” Combs says of the track, which he wrote with Ray Fulcher and James McNair. “It’s a little bit different than the things that we’ve done in the past, so I was kind of nervous about putting this song out and seeing what people’s reactions to it would be, just because it is a little bit left of center of what I usually do, but I think it’s a perfect fit for this show.
“And I’m excited for a lot of people who’ve maybe never heard of me or listened to me before, to kind of get a chance to at least hear me and go, ‘Oh, this guy’s not so bad!’” he adds.
Watch Combs’ performance at the Grammy Awards here. Combs next album, Gettin’ Old, will be out on March 24. Combs will embark on his World Tour in March 25 in Arlington, Texas, and will play in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and more, before wrapping up on October 19 in the UK.
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.
Find music and tour dates at LukeCombs.com.