Luke Combs is a CMA award-winning artist now. But it wasn't too long ago that he was just a kid from North Carolina, picking up his first guitar at the age of 21.
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In an interview with People, Luke revealed that, although he got his guitar in middle school, he wasn't really interested in playing at the time. At first, he felt weird about being an almost college graduate learning to play. It was his mom, Rhonda, who encouraged him to try. For Luke, his first guitar was actually a $50 Ibanez guitar, and that's what he learned on.
"So I still had that guitar in the closet," he shared. "And my mom came out, and she was like, 'I don't understand why you're sitting around sulking. You know Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw, they didn't start playing guitar until they were 21.'"
Luke had been singing from a pretty young age and had even gone to Carnegie Hall at one point with his high school choir. His parents had always been supportive, so nothing changed about that when it came to country music. However, his dad was also honest with him in the beginning.
"My parents always encouraged me to sing, and they were very proud that I was doing those things," he shared with People. "But it wasn't like my dad was like, 'Hey slugger, you'll be Garth Brooks one day, man.' It just didn't happen! You know what I mean?"
To Luke's surprise, it actually did happen.
How Luke Spent His 2025
Luke Combs may be a super successful artist, but he knows how to keep himself grounded. In 2025, Combs decided to take a break from touring so that he could spend more time with his kids, Tex and Beau. He reflected on a moment in 2024 with Fox News that really shows how all-consuming touring can be. At the time, he was in Australia on his world tour, and his wife was giving birth to his second son, Beau.
"I probably woke up at around 8:00 a.m. or something like that, Australia time, and I had a text from my wife, and it said, 'I'm so sorry, I really tried to not have the baby while you're gone,'" he shared. "And God, dude, it sucked."
This year, Combs has been focused on providing a semi-normal life for his boys and being there for them as much as possible. That means living in a 2,000-square-foot home and taking time away from the road.
"We live in a 2,000-square-foot house. It's two bedrooms," he told Fox. "Me and my wife have a room, and the boys share a room. We're always close together, we're always tight in there."
However, that doesn't mean that Luke Combs is calling it quits on touring for good. In March of 2026, the singer is planning to kick off a new stadium tour, supporting his album, The Way I Am.
Combs will be hitting cities all over, from Indiana to Ontario.
