Fourteen years ago this month, a young, fresh-faced Luke Combs played his first-ever country music gig at the Parthenon Cafe in Boone, North Carolina. The “Fast Car” crooner recently commemorated the anniversary with a throwback photo on social media. More than a decade later, the Parthenon Cafe has closed its doors, but Combs is selling out stadiums all across the world. Not bad for someone whose parents told him he would never be Garth Brooks.
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Luke Combs Has Now Outsold Garth Brooks
That isn’t to say that Luke Combs’ parents weren’t supportive of his career choice—they just urged him to be pragmatic. The two-time Entertainer of the Year opened up about his early career aspirations during a Sunday Sitdown interview with Willie Geist. People magazine premiered an exclusive clip of the conversation, set to air Sunday, Feb. 1.
“My parents always encouraged me to sing, and they were very proud that I was doing those things,” Combs said. “But it wasn’t like my dad was like, ‘Hey slugger, you’ll be Garth Brooks one day, man.’ It just didn’t happen! You know what I mean? He was like, ‘You’ll never be Garth Brooks.’”
“And no slack to him,” continued the “Beautiful Crazy” singer, 35. “How often does that happen? It doesn’t happen. And damn, it happened though.”
In 2016, Combs’ debut single, “Hurricane,” sold 15,000 copies in its first week and debuted at No. 46 on the Hot Country Songs chart. The buzz landed him a deal with Sony Music Nashville, and he re-released the song with Columbia. This time, “Hurricane” hit No. 1.
Nearly a decade later, Combs became the highest-certified country music artist in history—bumping none other than Garth Brooks from the top spot he’d held for 20 years.
“When my team first told me about this, my initial reaction was, ‘Are you sure? There’s no way,’” the three-time Grammy nominee said.
[RELATED: One of Luke Combs’ Biggest Hits Came From the Most Unlikely Place]
He’s Releasing New Music
Now, Luke Combs is gearing up to release his sixth LP, The Way I Am, on March 20. A day later, he kicks off his My Kinda Saturday Night Tour at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
In addition to shows in the U.S. and Canada, the “Back in the Saddle” singer will travel overseas for stops in Sweden, France, the Netherlands, Ireland, and the United Kingdom before wrapping up the trek with an Aug. 1 show at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Featured image by Tim Mosenfelder/FilmMagic
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