In a world full of skilled, accomplished, standout country music stars, Luke Combs might the top of the top.
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The singer/songwriter sells out tours like he’s got the world on speed dial. Born March 2, 1990, the former bouncer turned performer has the globe on a string.
Born and raised in North Carolina, Combs performed from a young age, even at venues like Carnegie Hall, and later he dropped out of college to try to be a musician. He moved to Nashville and released his debut EP, The Way She Rides, in 2014.
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His 2017 LP, This One’s for You, hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200, and subsequent albums have only increased his country star power. To date, he’s accumulated two Grammy nominations, four ACM awards, and six CMA awards, including back-to-back CMA Entertainer of the Year in 2021 and 2022.
But outside of his music, what are Combs’ thoughts on the world at large, his craft, life, and love?
Without further ado, here are the best 20 Luke Combs quotes.
1. “I’ve always been a super regular guy.”
2. “I don’t want to put myself in any kind of a box as far as my sound goes, because being an artist is fluid. If you look at a painter’s work, a lot of times, it’s similar in style, but other times—over even a year’s period—it can change so much. I’m just going with the flow.”
3. “I’m an honest dude, not trying to be anything other than who I am.”
4. “Sometimes people are looking for, ‘What’s the next Tesla car? What’s this really cool, super-specific thing that people are going to want?’ But I try to be just like a Ford truck. They sell a lot more Ford trucks than they do Tesla cars.”
5. “I didn’t even know what a tour manager was, but I was the tour manager, booking agent, all that stuff for almost two years without knowing it. I wasn’t overwhelmed, because I enjoyed doing it.”
6. “When I picked up guitar, it wasn’t like, ‘OK, I’m going to be Kenny Chesney.’ It was like, ‘I want to play a chord,’ and then it was like, ‘I want to play another one, then play a song, then sing while playing the song.'”
7. “I could play a gig on the moon and not be nervous about it.”
8. “Both of my grandfathers were in the service. It’s one of those things that you can’t be thankful enough for.”
9. “It’s a good pair of jeans and a pair of boots that are comfortable and a T-shirt; that’s as far as I go. Getting wild with it might be a nice jacket, but I’m not a high-fashion guy for sure.”
10. “Turkey hunting is my thing; it’s only once a year, but if it’s turkey season, don’t call me, because I won’t answer.”
11. “I do gravitate towards the sad songs because I find them to be more of a challenge for me from a writing perspective. There are things about those songs that do touch people in a way that a fun song can’t.”
12. “The coolest Christmas present I’ve ever received is probably socks. My grandma always gets me socks—every year—and that’s something that I’ve probably never bought for myself. If Christmas wasn’t around and my grandma didn’t get me socks, I wouldn’t own any, probably.”
13. “I drove to Nashville a few times, met with some people and hung out, went to the Opry, and that kind of stuff. I made the decision—you’ve got to be present to win, so I packed it up and moved out here, and it’s been great. It’s been the best decision I ever made.”
14. “There’s an authenticity in just being who you are and not having an act about it or wear clothes you normally wouldn’t wear. I’m just comfortable in my own skin.”
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15. “Sometimes, you sit down to write a song, you don’t realize what it’s going to mean to somebody other than yourself.”
16. “As crazy as it sounds, my generation is very lazy.”
17. “My tour manager, I met him at Boot Barn. He was selling me a pair of boots… and he said, ‘I moved to Nashville to be a tour manager, and I need work right now,’ and I said, ‘Man, I don’t even have a tour manager. So you can tour-manage me.'”
18. “I’ve always been a ‘small goals’ kind of guy.”
19. “If I can reach the guy in Alabama that hunts, and he hears that song, and he sees me—like, he’s comfortable with me, my image as a person, as an artist—he’s willing to sit down and give that song a chance.”
20. “I just love writing songs and singing them. People seem to enjoy them, and that’s all you can really ask for. I didn’t get into it to try to be a celebrity or whatever.”
Photo by Toni Anne Barson/FilmMagic
