Sold out stadiums. Entertainer of the Year awards. Multi-platinum songs. There was a time when Luke Combs didn’t dare dream that big for himself.
Luke Combs Didn’t Believe He Could Make a Living Doing Music
During a chat with Willie Geist on Sunday Sitdown, Combs explained that being a full-time musician didn’t feel like a real job.
“You know, no, as crazy as that sounds,” the country singer responds to being asked if always thought he’d do music. “And I kick myself all the time, like, ‘How did I not put this together sooner?'”
Check the Numbers: Luke Combs Is the Second Highest-Selling Country Artist Ever
“All I did was sing all the time, and never one time was I like, ‘Maybe I could sing for a living,'” he continues. “I don’t know, I guess in my mind it was like, ‘Well, I mean, that’s not something you do. It’s not a job you can have.'”
He even said his idols didn’t feel like real people.
“When you’re growing up and you see Alan Jackson on TV, you’re like, ‘That’s not a real guy,'” he explains. “Like, it is, but you don’t process that that’s his job.”
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Luke Combs Almost Chose Banking Instead of Country Music
Even though he loved singing, the idea of doing it for a living felt so out of reach. Instead Combs set his sights on something out of the spotlight.
“Maybe you could open a restaurant or something. Maybe just stick to banking or something,” he recalls telling himself.
Those things felt more tangible to the country hitmaker, but it’s not because his parents were dousing water on the flame of his dreams. In fact, they encouraged him to chase after what he wanted.
“I came from a real working class family and my parents were always like, ‘Chase your dreams,’ you know?” he recounts. “But then in my mind I’m going like, ‘I mean, to an extent, right?'”
“Chase your dreams within reason, you know what I mean? Let’s not get crazy with it here,” he adds.
Luke Combs Is Headlining More Stadiums This Year
Had Combs opted for a simpler life, he would have never been nominated for three Grammys, or held multiple trophies from the CMAs and ACMs, and he certainly wouldn’t have been producing multi-platinum songs.
And stadium shows? Forget about it.
The singer-songwriter is preparing to for his sixth headlining tour. The My Kinda Saturday Night tour kicks off March 21 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
The trek will take him across the nation and overseas, all in support of his new album The Way I Am. It’s his sixth studio album, and it will be released on the eve of the tour, March 20.
Luke Combs has proven a lot of people wrong over the years, but perhaps the most significant person has been himself.
Top 20 Luke Combs Songs That Prove ‘Em All Wrong
Check out Luke Combs’ best songs, and the songs that changed his life when so many thought he wasn’t good enough to be a country star.