Luke Combs

Luke Albert Combs (born March 2, 1990) is an American country singer. He was born in North Carolina and grew up there, performing as a child. After leaving college to pursue a career in music, he moved to Nashville and released his debut EP, The Way She Rides, in 2014.

In 2017, Combs released his debut album, This One's for You, which reached number four on the Billboard 200. His second album, What You See Is What You Get, was released in 2019 and topped the charts in multiple territories, becoming his first to accomplish that. He has received three Grammy Award nominations, two iHeart Radio music awards, four Academy of Country Music Awards, and six Country Music Association Awards including the 2021 and 2022 Entertainer of the Year award, their highest honor.

Combs was born Luke Albert Combs in Huntersville, North Carolina, a suburb of Charlotte on March 2, 1990, as the only child of Rhonda (née Frasure) and Chester Combs. The family moved to Asheville in western North Carolina. As a child he performed in chorus class, multiple school musicals, and joined his church choir, which had the opportunity to perform at Carnegie Hall.

He attended Appalachian State University, where he studied business and later switched to criminal justice intending to be a homicide detective. While in college, he worked as a bouncer at a bar before being on stage in that same bar. Luke taught himself guitar on his mother's advice after dropping out of University.

He played his first country music show at the Parthenon Cafe in Boone, North Carolina. After five years and with 21 hours left on his degree, he dropped out to follow a country music career path. He later moved to Nashville pursuing more opportunities in 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 November 2015 he released his third EP, This One's for You. In late 2016, he was named one of Sounds Like Nashville's "Artists to Watch". In 2016, his first single, "Hurricane", sold 15,000 copies in its first week, and debuted at number 46 on Hot Country Songs. He 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, he released his major label debut album, also titled This One's for You, on Columbia Nashville and River House Artists. It hit number one on Billboard's Top Country Albums and number five on the 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 June 2018, he released a deluxe version titled This One's for You Too, with five bonus tracks, two of which ("She Got the Best of Me" and "Beautiful Crazy") were issued as singles with both reaching number-one. "Beautiful Crazy" reached number one on Country Airplay in February 2019, giving him 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 a 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", "Does to Me" (a duet with Eric Church), and "Lovin' on You", all of which have reached number one on the country chart.