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USA Today
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
A more seasoned Luke Combs hits the summer festival circuit as a man on a mission
A more seasoned Luke Combs hits the summer festival circuit as a man on a mission Luke Combs discusses playing mega-festivals like Bonnaroo and Newport Folk in 2025, the importance of getting Americans to love country music again. Last year, Luke Combs got Tracy Chapman to break a decade of silence by performing "Fast Car" with him at the 2024 Grammy Awards. For his next trick, Combs is embarking on a mission to win over fans outside the confines of the country music apparatus — including those who, as he once did, eschew the genre. The "Beer Never Broke My Heart" performer has spent the last seven years using his blue-collar work ethic and earnest songwriting to sell millions of tickets and build stardom within country's club-to-arena-to-stadium touring circuit. His 2025 schedule, however, hits harder than the Category 10 "Hurricane" that names both his first hit single and the recently-opened 70,000-square-foot downtown Nashville honky-tonk near Nissan Stadium. And is chock full of major festivals that will bring fans from virtually every musical genre: Bonnaroo, Boston Calling, Lollapalooza — even the Newport Folk Festival. "The next frontier is expanding my limits to embrace people who want to destigmatize country music," Combs said, while preparing recently for a Jazzfest headlining gig in New Orleans. "It's a fresh, different challenge." Combs' push to broaden his fanbase is directly linked to the success of his "Fast Car" cover and viral duet at the Grammys. "I don't think any of this is possible without Tracy's stamp of approval," Combs said, adding that Chapman's endorsement "has created the opportunity to showcase how my work can be loved and appreciated by people who may have thought they could never love my music." He's not changing anything about his show's presentation, but rather leaning into the versatility of his bandmates. "My band is so much more talented than I am with instruments in their hands," Combs said. "They'll go from country to playing Vanessa Carlton or Train, then play a bass solo over the White Stripes' 'Seven Nation Army.'" "The kids know ball," he gushed. "We're not taking glitz, glamour, fame, flash, fire and smoke to these crowds. I will still get up there with my band, songs and talent, then give them the best live show possible that will earn their respect." Why Combs is weaving sentimentality into latest career chapter Combs is a warm-throated vocalist who has hit the top of country's radio charts 13 consecutive times with singles that sold the equivalent of over 70 million copies. At 35, he's also a husband, father of two sons and is aiming for something greater. "Even though they're not old enough to see these shows, I want my kids to be able to look back on this era in their father's life and process how proud their father was of putting time, effort and passion into what he's accomplishing," Combs said. "Fathers & Sons," his critically acclaimed 2024 album, hinted at how he aims to put his family closer to the forefront of his work. Combs has found a way to weave his love for family into a kind of sentimentality that now emanates across his brand, allowing him to float away from being pigeonholed in country music's rough-hewn and beer-swilling stereotypical traditions. 'Some parts of country music could be for anyone' Combs' mission to carry country's torch to pop's most profound embrace is rooted in his own childhood. "I'm passionate about country music and have a deep knowledge of its inner workings, but I'm also someone who ran as far away from country music as I could and hated it, for a decade, when I was 10 or 11 years old," Combs says. At this year's Stagecoach Festival, along with bringing Garth Brooks onstage to sing "Friends in Low Places" to close the festival, Combs also welcomed Benji and Joel Madden of pop-punk emo rockers Good Charlotte onstage to sing "The Anthem," which was released when he was 13 years old. "I eventually rediscovered my love for country music and feel like, though the genre might not be for everyone, some parts of the genre could be for anyone." Performing at the Newport Folk Festival On July 28, Combs is scheduled to perform at the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island. The event's importance as a link between roots music's past and country music's future cannot be underscored enough. The 66-year-old festival, born out of the "folk revival" of the 1950s, has perpetually served as one of popular music's most vital inflection points. Within a decade of Newport Folk's founding, Bob Dylan plugged in an electric guitar and Johnny and June Carter Cash introduced the world to Kris Kristofferson. A successful Combs set at Newport Folk could help connect country music's mainstream surge to its roots, while buoying his own efforts to grow his legions of fans. He has sat with Tyler King, his band's lead guitarist, to tailor a "musical and unique" set list to elevate what he feels is the "best version yet" of what he offers as a live performer to people who have never heard his songs, or heard him perform in a live setting. "An audience of listeners will hear a set that allows my band and me to do what we do best, but also respects the traditions of the Newport Folk Festival," Combs said. More broadly, this more seasoned version of Combs looks at the summer ahead as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. "We're in a rare position where we get to steward forward an era where country and pop music no longer have to exist independently of each other," he said.
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Beloved '80s Musician Makes Rare Statement About Future Career 'Plans'
Beloved '80s Musician Makes Rare Statement About Future Career 'Plans' originally appeared on Parade. has become revered as one of the most influential music stars since her '80s debut, but for the most part, she has kept an extremely low profile in recent years. Following the 37th anniversary of her legendary track "Fast Car," which was released in April 1988 and re-issued on vinyl last month in honor of the milestone, the singer/songwriter offered up rare comments about her future career plans—and despite her enduring influence, it likely doesn't come as a huge surprise for loyal fans. 'I'm still on a break,' she told the German press, per US Weekly. 'I have no plans to go on tour, and I have no plans to go into the studio. Who knows what might happen, but right now, there are no plans.' 🎬SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox🎬 She does, however, seemingly still keep music creation at top of mind, revealing in a separate interview that if she was to set off on tour again, it would be linked to a brand new project vs. solely her past hits (though iconic). 'If I were to tour, I would tour for something new, new material, and in that process, I would, of course, play these songs, too,' she explained to Billboard. 'But that would be the thing that would be most interesting to me at this point. And that's always the case. Whenever someone asks, 'What's your favorite song?' It's always the one I'm writing at the time. I said it before, but maybe no one believed it, that I'm always playing and I'm always writing songs. I've been doing it since I was 8 years old. It's just part of my DNA. It's part of who I am.' The rarely-seen star has become known for leading an ultra-private life largely away from the spotlight, and only popping back into the public eye for occasional performances. At the 2024 Grammy Awards, she delighted with a poignant duet with Luke Combs that nearly brought fans to tears. Chapman's last project, Our Bright Future, was released in 2008. Next: Beloved '80s Musician Makes Rare Statement About Future Career 'Plans' first appeared on Parade on May 30, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on May 30, 2025, where it first appeared.
USA Today
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Luke Combs surprises Stagecoach 2025 crowd with Garth Brooks for 'Friends in Low Places'
Luke Combs surprises Stagecoach 2025 crowd with Garth Brooks for 'Friends in Low Places' Show Caption Hide Caption Coachella campers face festival traffic nightmare Coachella campers arrived ahead of the start of the famed festival only to face massive traffic lines. What's enough to knock the focus off Luke Combs during his headlining set at Stagecoach over the weekend? Try a surprise guest appearance by Garth Brooks to sing the country hit to end all country hits: "Friends in Low Places." Yep, that'll definitely do it! And so, it was that Combs put a most thunderous finishing touch on what will surely go down as one of the most epic headlining sets in recent Stagecoach history. Combs keyed up expectations as he told fans something special was on the way to help him close out an already-rousing festival set. Playing somewhat coy, he sang the first portion of "Friends in Low Places," only for Brooks to quietly appear on stage and take over. Why did Luke Combs write 'Ain't No Love in Oklahoma'? See the lyrics, story behind the song The crowd, at first shocked, and then raucously delighted, seemed unable to believe their ears. What transpired over the next few minutes felt like a shot — or three — of pure Stagecoach adrenaline, stronger and more intoxicating than any of the varied liquors that had been guzzled all over the Empire Polo Club grounds over the previous 72 hours. The Garth Brooks news is a big disappointment − and an important reminder It felt like nearly everyone in the crowd was singing along as Brooks and Combs — both sporting big grins — drank in the moment, turning the vocal work over to the crowd for large portions of the song but interjecting just enough to remind us that we were witnessing country music lore in the making. Finally, Combs yelled, "It's Garth Freaking Brooks, everybody!" We didn't need the explanation, but the crowd, of course, roared anyway. It was Brooks himself who delivered what will probably be the most-remembered line of the night when he referred to Combs as a "future Hall of Famer." It's a title that Combs earned through a grueling 90-minute set in the California desert, leading the crowd through a commanding barrage of his biggest hits. Tracy Chapman's 'Fast Car' is topping charts thanks to Luke Combs: 'Honored to be there' The country music star headlined Stagecoach just three years ago, but his set this time around was strikingly different. Many of his most beloved hits, featured heavily during the April 27 show, had not even been released at the time of that last show. It served as yet another sign that Combs' career is as white-hot with success now as it was then. While Brooks stole the show, he wasn't the only high-profile guest to join Combs on stage. Pop punk band Good Charlotte also made an appearance to sing their hit "The Anthem," alongside Combs and Bailey Zimmerman — an up-and-comer who appeared at Stagecoach in 2024 and 2023 — came out to perform a new song called "Backup Plan." Still, it was Comb's voice that kept audiences captivating, his signature country croon ringing out over a rapt stadium. Watch Cleveland native Tracy Chapman perform 'Fast Car' with Luke Combs at the Grammys While there was no shortage of highlights, it was hard to beat the sheer power of his "Hurricane" performance, or the cover of Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" − a sleeper hit for the country artist. Then again, I'll also have a hard time getting over the hard-charging spectacle of "Ain't No Love in Oklahoma." When he was finished wrapping up his own set, Combs hopped stages to lend his talents to the festival's actual final act: the Backstreet Boys. Showing up to sing "I Want It That Way," he helped give the classic 2000s hit a country twang. I have a feeling it won't be the last time we see Combs show up to blow the doors off someone else's set at Stagecoach. Someday, an elder Combs might even have to come back to crown the next "Luke Combs" just like Brooks did tonight. Contributing: Anna Kaufman, USA TODAY
Fox News
13-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Luke Combs says he's giving kids a normal childhood before 'very strange circumstances' take over
Luke Combs wants his two kids to grow up with a normal childhood before they can understand the "very strange circumstances" that come with fame. Combs, 35, considers himself a "stay-at-home" father – at least during the week between shows. "I'm home four days a week, every week, full-time," the country music star said during an appearance on "The MeatEater Podcast." "Sun-up, sundown most days. Getting the kids up, changing diapers, doing baths, cooking dinners, cooking lunches, cooking breakfasts. That occupies a lot of my time, but that's what I want." "I want my kids' childhoods to feel as normal as they can given the very strange circumstances that it will ultimately become." To create that childhood for his kids, Combs and his family live in a normal home. "We live in a 2,000-square-foot house. It's two bedrooms," the musician said. "Me and my wife have a room, and the boys share a room. We're always close together, we're always tight in there." The most normal thing Combs can teach his kids is responsibility, which the "Fast Car" singer says is a priority in his household. "The living room is the playroom. All the kids' toys are in there. We let them destroy it. But every night, 'Alright, we're all cleaning up now,'" Combs explained. "Mom and dad are cleaning up, but to the extent that a one-and-a-half-year-old [can], he'll get a block and bring it over. He might only pick up two things, but my two-and-a-half-year-old now, he can actually make a 5 percent dent in the cleanup. But he understands." Combs' opening up about his life at home comes after the country music star missed the birth of his second son, Beau. "I'll never forget the craziest day, probably, in my life – close to it," he shared during a 2024 appearance on The Zane Lowe Show. "One of the best and one of the worst days in my life at the same time." "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 added. "And God, dude, it sucked." Combs met his wife and mother of his two children by chance. The two first crossed paths at the 30A Songwriters Festival in January 2016 despite both living in Nashville. After returning home, Combs and Hocking shortly began dating. "I could tell she was different than anybody I had ever met," Combs later told Nashville Lifestyles. Hocking added, "I realized we could hang out and just be ourselves in front of each other. I could wear no makeup and be my weird self – because we're all weird, but we get to choose who to share that side of us with. We could be each other's weird in front of each other. That's when it was like, 'You know what? This guy's a keeper.'" Combs and Hocking married in 2020 and had expanded their family by two before the end of 2023. Hocking gave birth to the couple's first son, Tex, in 2022. Shortly afterward, Combs and his wife revealed they were expecting their second child, Beau. Hocking debuted her baby bump at the 2023 ACM awards, where Combs explained how they were preparing for two under two. "We're getting ready. We're just in it. We're in the trenches, taping grenades. [We're] excited for the second one," he told People magazine at the time. "They're gonna be close [in age], but I feel like we'll be in practice."
CBC
11-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Tracy Chapman wrote her life-changing hit Fast Car in one night
In 1988, the world was introduced to Tracy Chapman when she performed her song Fast Car for a massive crowd of 90,000 people at Wembley Stadium. The concert, which was a birthday tribute to Nelson Mandela, was broadcast to 600 million people around the world, elevating Chapman as an important new American voice. Today, 35 years later, the story of that concert is legendary. Before getting drafted in as a last-minute replacement for Stevie Wonder, Chapman was a virtually unknown singer-songwriter whose background was in street performing. Though stepping out onstage at Wembley was a daunting experience, she credits her years spent busking on street corners for teaching her how to hold a crowd's attention with just her voice and a guitar. "I was clearly overwhelmed," Chapman tells Q guest host Garvia Bailey in a rare interview. "It was the largest audience I'd ever been in front of…. Because I was solo acoustic — it was just me and the guitar — they realized they could slot me in at any point in the show. And so we were just waiting in the green room and then they came and said, 'Look, you're on.' And that was it. There was no warning." WATCH | Tracy Chapman performs Fast Car at Wembley Stadium: Fast Car, the lead single off Chapman's self-titled debut album, shot her to stardom and won her a Grammy. It not only changed her life, but the life of countless fans, like the British novelist Zadie Smith, who recently wrote about Chapman's impact in a piece for The Guardian. While some life-changing hits take years to write, Chapman says she wrote Fast Car in a single night in 1986. "It was pretty late or early in the morning, maybe two or three in the morning," she says. "I was up, I was playing [guitar], my dog was sitting next to me on the couch — a miniature dachshund, extremely important to the story — and I started playing that line on the guitar and came up with the first line of the song. It developed from there. I think I wrote most of the song that night and then I went back and revised it throughout the week. So in a way, it was quick. There's some songs that take me years to finish, but that was not one."
