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Luke Combs On His Fans: ‘We Try To Think Of Them First’

Earlier this week, Luke Combs announced his “Growin’ Up And Gettin’ Old” U.S. Tour with dates from April 2024 through August. Luke talked with us about touring stadiums, which he…

Luke Combs: 'We Try To Think Of Them First At Every Turn'
Jason Kempin/Getty Images

Earlier this week, Luke Combs announced his "Growin' Up And Gettin' Old" U.S. Tour with dates from April 2024 through August.

Luke talked with us about touring stadiums, which he started in 2023. He's also been touring for years and has learned a thing or two about how to make his fans feel special. He told us, "You know, when we're doing a show like this, whether it's going over ticket pricing or picking openers or picking cities. I mean, we try to think of them first at every turn, truly."

He added, "I hope that comes across when they see the show and, when they're at the box office to buy their tickets, I hope those things kind of come across."

Combs also told us what it takes to put on big stadium shows like he does. He said, "Oh, it takes a ton of people to put on a show of this size. I mean, definitely over 100-150 folks, and that's just my people, that's not including the openers. So yeah, it's a tremendous, tremendous effort to get these shows pulled off, and very thankful to have the best team in the business to help me do these shows every night."

Luke said in a statement, "We got an opportunity to do two shows in some U.S. markets on the World Tour, but when I found out we were going to be able to do two shows for most all of the cities on the 2024 tour, I decided I wanted each show to have their own unique set up of openers, as well as my own unique setlist. I thought this would give people an opportunity to come to both nights if they want but see two completely different shows."

He added, "With country music being such a wide genre and being a huge fan of it all myself, I wanted to open up my stage to acts that lean into Outlaw, Americana, and Red Dirt on Friday nights, as well as having a night with people I have toured with in the past, who are more contemporary country. I'm super excited to have both groups be out on the road with me for the Growin' Up and Gettin' Old Tour!"

Luke Combs is getting ready to release his latest album, Growing Old, later this month (3/24), and then he kicks off his world tour, which will play stadiums all over the world. That is not bad for a guy who studied criminal justice in college just over ten years ago.

As his country star continues to rise, Luke became a new dad in July of last year (2022) and has been busy helping out his wife Nicole take care of his son Tex. He also performed as a multiple nominee at the Grammy Awards show in February (2/5).

Combs celebrates his 33rd birthday today (3/2), and to honor him; we rank his 16 biggest and best songs.

16. "Does to Me" (featuring Eric Church) (2020)

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A collaboration between Luke and Eric Church, who he cites as a musical hero. It was the third single from Combs's 2019 album What You See Is What You Get.


15. "Cold Beer Calling My Name" (featuring Jameson Rodgers) (2020)

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Another collaboration, this time with new artist Jameson Rodgers. Rodgers served as an opening act for Combs during Luke’s 2019 "Beer Never Broke My Heart Tour."


14. "One Number Away" (2018)

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This song is a ballad about a man conflicted with not wanting to break down and call his ex-girlfriend. "One Number Away" reached number one on the Billboard Country Airplay chart, giving Combs his third No. 1 country hit overall.


13. "Brand New Man" (with Brooks and Dunn) (2019)

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A remake of a Brooks & Dunn classic on the Country Music Hall of Fame duo’s ‘Reboot’ album. Luke is a huge fan of the duo, and when this writer interviewed him at the start of his career, one of his main goals was to meet Kix and Ronnie. Well, he did, and the rest is history.


12. "Better Together" (2020)

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Combs performed the song on October 15, 2020, on the telecast of the Billboard Music Awards. During the performance, he appeared in a suit, and without his trademark baseball cap and was accompanied solely by a piano player.


11. "When It Rains It Pours" (2017)

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The song's music video features Luke encountering his ex-girlfriend, and then driving, celebrating with his friends, getting a phone number from a waitress (played by his then-girlfriend, now wife, Nicole Hocking), and celebrating over winning money on a lottery ticket. It was nominated for Video of the Year at the 2018 CMT Music Awards.


10. "She Got the Best of Me" (2018)

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Combs said that he wrote this song four years prior to its recording, at a bar in Nashville, Tennessee called the Tin Roof. It was added to his debut album This One's for You as a bonus track due to fan demand.


9. "Even Though I'm Leaving" (2019)

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In the song’s first verse, Luke sings of a child who is afraid of monsters under his bed, while the second features the son as a young adult going off to serve in the military and the final verse features the son becoming emotional over his father's death.


8. "Cold as You" (2021)

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Combs uploaded an acoustic rendition of "Cold as You" in October of 2020 and dedicated it to his parents, wife, and fans. The tune told the story of a broken-hearted guy finding his way to a barstool.


7. "Doin' This" (2021)

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This song was inspired by interviewers asking Luke what he would do as a career if his country music career didn’t take off. His answer is in this song saying that if he didn’t make it big, he’d still be “doin’ this.” He debuted the song at the 2021 CMA Awards.


6. "Six Feet Apart" (2020)

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This song only charted in the top ten, but most of us related to it, as It perfectly describes what so many of us were feeling at the beginning of the pandemic.


5. "Lovin' on You" (2020)

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The video for this song is epic as it portrays Luke and his wife Nicole meeting at a skating center as kids. Combs performed the song on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" in July 2020.


4. "Hurricane" (2016)

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This is the song that started it all for Luke in Nashville. The song reached number one on the Billboard Country Airplay chart. Its second week atop that position gave Combs two distinctions: the first artist to have a multi-week number one debut single chart since Florida Georgia Line's "Cruise" in 2012 and the first male solo artist to accomplish that since Darius Rucker's "Don't Think I Don't Think About It" in 2008.


3. "Beautiful Crazy" (2019)

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A beautiful love song. Luke first posted videos to Facebook of himself performing the song. In 2018, he re-issued his debut album This One's for You (titled This One's for You Too) with a studio version as a bonus track.


2. "Forever After All" (2021)

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A song that tells the tale of his love for wife Nicole. The video of the song features footage from Combs’ August 2020 wedding. The song is a continuance of "Beautiful Crazy" and "Better Together," which were both dedicated to his wife.


1. "Beer Never Broke My Heart" (2019)

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This is Luke’s signature song, and what a great concept for a song. The fun song hit No. 1 on Billboard's Country Airplay chart dated August 4, 2019, which made this Combs' sixth number one on the chart. The song was certified Platinum by the RIAA on October 24, 2019.

Nancy Brooks has been working in the country music industry for almost 30 years. She has interviewed pretty much any country star you can think of. In the late 1990s, she started working with Dolly Parton. And yes, Nancy reports that Parton is as sweet as you would think. She loves her life in country music and has been backstage at every CMA Awards show since the late 1990s. Many of her stories are from her one-on-one interviews. She was there at the beginning of the incredible careers of many music superstars today, including Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, and Blake Shelton, and has interviewed them multiple times throughout the years.