Luke Combs won’t be performing at the 2022 CMT Music Awards, after all. The “Doin’ This” singer has been removed from a list of performers that was first announced on Tuesday (March 22).
The Video of the Year nominee was slated to tape his performance for the April 11 awards show on Thursday (March 24). However, Combs has reportedly tested positive for COVID-19. Country Now shares a note from a CMT spokesperson which confirms the news.
Combs was slated to perform alongside Kane Brown during the show, but Old Dominion will now fill in.
The CMT Awards will air on CBS for the first time ever this year, but include the same video-centric awards the cable network’s flagship show was known for. Video of the Year is the big award, with other prizes going to Female Video of the Year, Male Video of the Year, Group/Duo Video of the Year, etc.
Kelsea Ballerini and Anthony Mackie will host the Monday night show.
Neither Combs nor his wife have not commented on his positive COVID-19 test on their social media. Nicole Combs tested positive to begin 2021 and detailed a brutal battle with the disease. She is currently pregnant with the couple’s first child, due later this spring. The singer had recently traveled out of the country to play the C2C Festival in Ireland, England and Scotland. It’s not clear if his wife traveled with him.
That the Combs and Brown performance was to be taped was the first hint of what’s to come from the CMT Music Awards next month. In years past, the network has filmed at unique locations around Tennessee as a way to supplement live performances from the venue stage. Typically awards shows are presented as live, if for no other reason than to reveal the winners in realtime and prevent leaks.
Combs is up for two awards in total. There are just eight categories, all of which will be decided by fan vote.
Ballerini, Cody Johnson, Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town, Maren Morris and Ryan Hurd, Carly Pearce, Cole Swindell and Lainey Wilson and Keith Urban are more of the first round of performers CMT announced earlier this week.