Luke Bryan, Katy Perry, and Lionel Richie aren’t in Los Angeles anymore.
Videos by American Songwriter
Bryan brought his fellow American Idol judges to his birthplace of Leesburg, Georgia, for a taste of his humble country roots. The “But I Got a Beer in My Hand” singer teased the upcoming season of Idol — set to premiere Feb. 18 — with a highlight reel of the trip posted to his Instagram this week.
The compilation video opened with the Idol judge panel looking a long way from Hollywood as they pose in front of the sign leading into Leesburg. The sign proudly boasts, “Home of Luke Bryan, Buster Posey, Carly Mathis, Phillip Phillips” — not bad for a town of barely 3,500 at the 2021 census.
Luke Shows Love
“There is so much to love about Leesburg,” Bryan said in the video, before launching into a list of his personal top 5 favorites.
Indeed, Bryan’s fondness for his hometown is palpable throughout the video. One clip shows him exuberantly mingling with a crowd of screaming fans. And if the comment section is any indication, every bit of Bryan’s love is reciprocated.
“Hometown boy! Makes us proud!” one Instagram user wrote.
[RELATED: Luke Bryan Reveals His Plans for 2024: ‘American Idol,’ a New Tour, and More]
Where It All Began
Country music fans may have Bryan’s father and his peanut mill to thank for the “What Makes You Country” star’s illustrious career.
In the video, Bryan fondly recalled the mill as the place where he learned “to work my butt off.” A teenage Bryan spent many an hour preparing and drying out farm-fresh peanuts, he told Parade in a 2014 interview.
The Instagram video shows Bryan standing beside Perry as she pulls a lever. The two roar with laughter as a deluge of peanuts showers the ground in front of them. It’s clear the situation has already spiraled out of their control.
“I learned that I got to go be a musician, because this is too hard,” Bryan said in the Instagram video, cracking an impish grin.
‘No Place Like Home’
Leesburg isn’t the only hometown getting a shout-out. The upcoming season of Idol will see the show stop by various cities “big and small,” including the hometowns of each judge and some of the competition’s most iconic winners.
“Idol cannot wait to share the judges’ special hometowns with our viewers – and show off the talent from each of the places they call home!” host Ryan Seacrest told Rolling Stone in a December 2023 interview.
(Photo by Monica Schipper/Getty Images for Stagecoach)
