Luke Combs

Luke Combs
Luke Albert Combs (born March 2, 1990) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Born and raised in North Carolina, he began performing as a child. After dropping out of college to pursue a career in music, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he released his debut EP, The Way She Rides, in 2014.
In 2017 he released his debut album, This One's for You, which reached number four on the Billboard 200. He released his second album, What You See Is What You Get, on November 8, 2019. The album topped the charts in multiple territories, becoming his first to do so. A deluxe version of the album was released on October 23, 2020, including the song "Forever After All".
His music has earned him three Grammy Award nominations, two iHeart Radio music awards, four Academy of Country Music Awards and six Country Music Association Awards, including the 2021 and 2022 Entertainer of the Year award, their highest honor.
Early life
Combs was born in Huntersville, North Carolina, the only child of Rhonda and Chester Combs. The family moved to Asheville, North Carolina, when he was 8. As a child he performed in chorus class, multiple school musicals, and joined his church choir, which performed once at Carnegie Hall.
He attended Appalachian State University where he worked as a bouncer at a bar before gaining stage time in that same bar. He played his first country music show at the Parthenon Cafe in Boone. After five years and with 21 hours left on his degree he dropped out to pursue his country music career. He later moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue a career in music.
Music
Combs released his first EP, The Way She Rides, in February 2014. Later that year, he released his second EP, Can I Get an Outlaw. In 2016 his first single, "Hurricane", sold 15,000 copies in its first week, and debuted at number 46 on Hot Country Songs. In November 2015 he released his third EP, This One's for You. In late 2016 he was named one of Sounds Like Nashville's "Artists to Watch".
He signed a deal with Sony Music Nashville, and the debut single from This One's for You, "Hurricane", was re-released on Columbia Nashville. "Hurricane" reached number one on the country radio airplay chart on May 15, 2017, holding that spot for two weeks.
In June 2017 he released his major label debut album, also titled This One's for You on Columbia Nashville and River House Artists. It hit number one on Billboards Top Country Albums and number five on the Billboard 200 in its first week. The album's second single, "When It Rains It Pours" was released to country radio on June 19, 2017. It reached number one on the Country Airplay chart in October 2017. The album's third single, "One Number Away" was released to country radio on January 8, 2018. In June 2018 he released a deluxe version titled This One's for You Too, with five bonus tracks, two of which ("She Got the Best of Me" and "Beautiful Crazy") were issued as singles with both reaching number-one. "Beautiful Crazy" reached number one on Country Airplay in February 2019, giving him five number-ones on the Billboard country chart with his first five singles. The song reached number one on three additional country charts – Hot Country Songs, Country Streaming Songs, and Country Digital Song Sales.
On June 11, 2019, he was invited to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry.
In August 2019 This One's for You spent its 44th week at number one on Top Country Albums, setting the record for the longest reign at the top of that chart by a male artist.
His second album What You See Is What You Get was released on November 8, 2019. The album has charted the singles "Beer Never Broke My Heart", "Even Though I'm Leaving", "Does to Me" (a duet with Eric Church), and "Lovin' on You", all of which have reached number one on the country chart.
In May 2020 he released the single "Six Feet Apart". The single quickly became popular to listeners as it illustrated the challenges of life during the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2020 he confirmed his next single would be "Lovin' on You", which was released on both his second album and the EP The Prequel, which predated the album.
He announced a deluxe version of What You See Is What You Get, titled What You See Ain't Always What You Get, with five new songs; it was released on October 23, 2020. The track "Forever After All" set streaming records in country music on Apple Music and Spotify.
Growin' Up, his third album, was released on June 24, 2022. The album has charted the singles, "Doin' This", "The Kind of Love We Make", which reached number one on the country chart and number eight on the Hot 100, and "Going, Going, Gone".
His fourth album, Gettin' Old, was released on March 24, 2023. A promotional single, "Growin' Up and Gettin' Old" and a single "Love You Anyway" were released ahead of the album. His cover of Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" was streamed over 65 million times on Spotify in less than two months after the album was released, making it the most popular song from the album on that platform. He counts the song as his first favorite song and having an impact on him since he was a child.
Tours
Headlining
Don't Tempt Me with a Good Time Tour (2017–18)
Beer Never Broke My Heart Tour (2019)
What You See Is What You Get Tour (2020–21)
Luke Combs World Tour (2023)
Growin' Up and Gettin' Old Tour (2024)
Supporting
The Devil Don't Sleep Tour (2017) with Brantley Gilbert
High Noon Neon Tour (2018) with Jason Aldean
Here on Earth Tour (2020) with Tim McGraw
Personal life
In early 2016 Combs started dating Nicole Hocking, and the two became engaged in November 2018. They married in Florida on August 1, 2020. On June 19, 2022, they welcomed their first child, a son. On August 15, 2023, their second son was born.
Combs began to struggle with anxiety and primarily obsessional obsessive compulsive disorder in adolescence through his college years; he has said that while it is something he has learned to control better, he still struggles with obsessive thoughts from time to time.
Discography
This One's for You (2017)
What You See Is What You Get (2019)
Growin' Up (2022)
Gettin' Old (2023)
Awards and nominations
References
1990 births
Living people
21st-century American singer-songwriters
21st-century American male singers
American country singer-songwriters
American male singer-songwriters
Country musicians from North Carolina
Musicians from Asheville, North Carolina
Singer-songwriters from North Carolina
People with obsessive–compulsive disorder