Luke Albert Combs is an American country musicsinger and songwriter. Combs has released two albums for Columbia Nashville, which have combined to produce eight singles, each of which reached number one on Billboards Country Airplay chart: "Hurricane", "When It Rains It Pours", "One Number Away", "She Got the Best of Me", "Beautiful Crazy", "Beer Never Broke My Heart", "Even Though I'm Leaving", and "Does to Me".
Early life
Combs, an only child, was born in Charlotte, North Carolina and moved to Asheville, North Carolina at the age of 8. He has been performing as a vocalist since childhood. While attending A. C. Reynolds High School, Combs played football and performed with multiple vocal groups, including performing a solo in the world-renowned Carnegie Hall. Later, he attended Appalachian State University where he worked as a bouncer at a bar before gaining stage time in that same bar. He played his first country music show at the Parthenon Cafe. With less than a month left in his senior year, he dropped out to pursue his country music career. He later moved to Nashville, Tennessee to pursue a career in music.
Music
Combs released his first EP, The Way She Rides, in February 2014. Later that year, he released his second EP, Can I Get an Outlaw. In 2016, Combs' first single, "Hurricane", sold 15,000 copies in its first week, and debuted at number 46 on the BillboardHot Country Songs chart. In November 2015, Combs released his third EP, This One's for You. In late 2016, Combs was named one of Sounds Like Nashville's "Artists to Watch". Combs signed a deal with Sony Music Nashville, and the debut single from This One's for You, "Hurricane", was re-released on Columbia Nashville. "Hurricane" reached number one on the country radio airplay chart on May 15, 2017, holding that spot for two weeks. In June 2017, Combs released his major label debut album, also titled This One's for You on Columbia Nashville and River House Artists. The album reached number one on BillboardTop Country Albums and number five on the US Billboard 200 in its first week. The album's second single, "When It Rains It Pours" was released to country radio on June 19, 2017. It reached number one on the Country Airplay chart in October 2017. The album's third single, "One Number Away" was released to country radio on January 8, 2018. In mid-2018, Combs re-released This One's for You with several bonus tracks, two of which were also issued as singles. "Beautiful Crazy" reached number one on Country Airplay in February 2019, giving Combs five number ones on the Billboard country chart with his first five singles. The song reached number one on three additional country charts - Hot Country Songs, Country Streaming Songs, and Country Digital Song Sales. On June 11, 2019 he was invited to become the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry. In August 2019, This One's for You spent its 44th week at number one on Top Country Albums, setting the record for the longest reign at the top of that chart by a male artist. His second album What You See Is What You Get was released on November 8, 2019. The album has charted the singles "Beer Never Broke My Heart", "Even Though I'm Leaving", and "Does to Me", a duet with Eric Church. In May 2020, Combs released the studio single "Six Feet Apart". This single quickly became popular to listeners as it illustrated the challenges of life during the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2020, Combs confirmed his next single would be Lovin' on You, which was released on both his second album and the EP The Prequel, which predated the album.
