Already a giant success in country music, Luke Bryan’s career has only become more visible thanks to his participation as one of three judges on the popular singing competition show American Idol. He joined the show in 2018.
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Along with judges Lionel Richie and Katy Perry, Bryan is responsible for giving his thumbs up or thumbs down to a contestant who wants to get into the next round of the show.
[RELATED: Top 10 Songs by Luke Bryan]
Born July 17, 1976, the 46-year-old, Georgia son began his career writing songs for Travis Tritt and Billy Currington before signing with Capitol Nashville some 15 years ago. To date, he’s one of the most successful and decorated country artists, he has released 11 studio albums and boasts 27 No. 1 country hits. He’s also sold some 75 million albums.
But what does Bryan have to say about life and love, his craft, and the world at large outside of his prolific music releases? Here are the 30 best Luke Bryan quotes.
1. “With every album, the approach is to find the best songs you can find, write the best songs you can write, and try to sound better.”
2. “To have your first No. 1 as an artist was everything I could have ever dreamed for. Now we’re keeping our fingers crossed, and hopefully, we’ll have many more, but there’s certainly nothing like the first one.”
3. “When you look into the eyes of your people out there that came to see you, that’s when it’s like, ‘Yep, this is what it’s all about.’ This is why we don’t sleep, and this is why we write songs and try to be the best. This moment right here onstage.”
4. “My thing is you just have to try to feel young and stay young. Obviously, you get a little older, but I still want my music to be young. I don’t want to sound like an old dad onstage, so you just have to write music that sounds young.”
5. “I’m kind of at a point in my career where I can get away with traditional stuff and then get away with some more rocky and pop and edgier stuff, too.”
6. “When I’m writing a song, it’s just me and the songwriters. Then when the song is done, there are publishers that hear it, then people in my management, then my wife and my boys and my friends, and if they’re all lovin’ it, it’s kind of withstanding all the criticism I need.”
7. “Even with all the negativeness of the whole social media thing, I still think it’s leaps and bounds more positive.”
8. “I think certainly after every show I headline, I will be available to the fans. When I’m headlining a show, I don’t walk off stage. I’ll walk to the front of the stage and sign hats and shirts and tickets for 15 to 30 minutes until everyone has everything signed.”
9. “I’m excited to be part of a movement that’s progressing country music. There’s always gonna be people saying, ‘It ain’t country anymore,’ but I don’t get into that whole deal.”
10. “I try to be a good representative of country music. But as a country artist, it’s important to move the needle and make a difference beyond your core audience. But you can’t ever strategically try to accomplish that; then things get weird.”
11. “I refuse to be one of those artists who, 10 years from now, they’re bitter about the rise and the fall of their career. I understand that somewhere there’s a peak and a crest for me, and I’m going to enjoy all levels. I’m going to enjoy this ride that I’m on, and when it slows down, that’s when it will be time for another phase of my life.”
12. “You see a lot of people out there that say they’re country, and they do their little things that are stereotypical country things, but being country is a way of life.”
13. “Our crew guys, it’s amazing what they have to go through to make a show happen every night.”
14. “My best artist friend is definitely Jason Aldean. He and I really get along great and are really great friends. It’s fun to tour with a buddy and somebody that I just enjoy hanging out with. If we weren’t touring together, we’d be hunting in the off-season still and knocking around doing stuff, certainly.”
15. “Early in my songwriting career, when I was learning a lot about writing songs, I’d force myself to sit down until I came up with something.”
16. “I’ve been out with lots of other artists opening for them on tour, and you just learn that none of their success came easy—it was all hard work for them, and you have to buckle down and get ready for the hard work yourself, too.”
17. “Anytime you have a fellow artist say, ‘Loving the new Luke Bryan album,’ that’s awesome.”
18. “I want to be comfortable on TV. If I’m comfortable, they’re comfortable watching me. I think nothing’s more icky than watching icky on TV.”
19. “We’re putting on a show, and if I’m dancing and having fun, you can take a shot of the crowd, and they’ve got smiles glued to their faces.”
20. “If there are people out by the bus, I’ll come off the bus and sign autographs, too. I always want to be accessible. I always tell my fans, ‘If I ever get on the bus and don’t come off, it’s because I’m under the weather or I’m really tired.'”
21. “I got my iPad, and I’m trying to buy books on that, but I kind of like a book. At the end of my life, when I’m old, I want to have all these shelves full of books. So I’m just gonna do the book thing.”
22. “Every day I wake up and I lay in bed counting my blessings and saying my prayers for how fortunate I am to have great fans and health and family.”
23. “From my dad I learned to be good to people, to always be honest and straightforward. I learned hard work and perseverance.”
24. “I just like Forrest Gump. Maybe I’m a little smarter than him, maybe I’m not. Probably because of the whole Southern aspect of his character and for some reason I always wind up on the better end of all deals… I’ve just kind of got the old silly boy luck!”
25. “I don’t keep diaries anymore; They’re quite incriminating. I just keep all the dirt road diaries in my head.”
26. “I used to work at my dad’s peanut mill, and worked 15 hours a day, 6 days a week. So, now, riding around on a nice tour bus and doing shows, you’d have to get picky to have a downside.”
27. “If I wake up one day and people tell me I’m not sexy, I’m not going to stop making good music and having fun. That ‘sex symbol’ thing is typically part of being in the limelight. You better be very talented in your music, but it’s good to be nice to look at, I guess.”
28. “My first memories of music were country music and Ronnie Milsap. Where I grew up, it was what you listened to. And anything else, you were somewhat out of place.”
29. “Just really, really believe in what you’re trying to do. Don’t let people alter that. Let people advise you and lead you down paths to make smart business decisions. But trust your instinct and trust that overwhelming drive that made you put all your dreams and everything on the line.”
30. “My path is exactly where I want it to be. I’m doing my thing. I’m getting better with every album.”
Photo by Terry Wyatt/WireImage
