Luke Combs: His Definition Of ‘Making It’
Luke Combs is one of country music’s biggest superstars today, selling out multiple nights at stadiums on weekends and winning many awards, including the elusive Entertainer Of the Year honor. He recently returned from sellout shows in Australia and is sure to announce another stadium tour for this summer.
I’ve been talking with Luke since he first made the scene in Nashville and started to have hit songs on country radio. A few years ago, Combs told me what to him was the definition of making it in Nashville. He said, “I think the honest answer to that would be when I could pay my bills doing music and not have to do another job. That was making it for me. That was the goal, was not having to work 40 hours. Not have to do the cubicle office grind thing. I would say quote-unquote I made it in 2011 or 12.”
He added, “I mean, I was playing shows 3 or 4 nights a week and didn’t have to work and was just writing music and hanging out, and to me, that was the dream, you know? I didn’t think that I had to be any particular thing, and obviously, those goals and desires to achieve things change over time. You know, if I can just pay my bills doing music, that’s making it in my opinion.”
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Combs is at the top of the country music game, playing to sold-out stadiums of fans each weekend, but he has not had one experience that most country stars have already had.
In a recent interview, he said that there is one country music icon he has never been face to face with, and it irritates him.
Luke said, “I would like to run into George Strait. I’ve never met George Strait, ever. I feel like everyone in the world has, and I haven’t.”
He added, “I’m at the point where I’m salty about it.” When asked about when it happens and how would he feel, he said, “That would be cool, yeah!”
Strait, known as the King of Country Music, has 61 number-one songs across all country charts. This includes 44 number-one hits on the Billboard country chart, which is more than any other artist.
Combs has scored 20 number-one country songs since 2015, his first being “Hurricane.”
