15 Apr Luke Combs Refuses to Believe You Don’t Like Country Music
TIME – On a Thursday morning in April, Luke Combs is sitting pretty at the top of the country-music charts. His new album, The Way I Am, is a hit; he has multiple songs on Billboard’s Hot 100, and in March he broke the attendance record at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium, drawing more fans than the 2024 Super Bowl. In other words, he’s living the dream. But two things can be true at the same time, and today—like most days—Combs is also living the reality of a dad just trying to get through it.
Wearing an Appalachian State football T-shirt and a worn-down expression, the father of three young boys is hiding out in the one quiet space on his property outside Nashville, having just been relieved by the nanny. His youngest son, Chet, was born in February, and his middle son, 2-year-old Beau, is experiencing a classic case of new-baby jealousy. “You can’t really reason with him,” Combs says, sighing. “He’s just not old enough to really respond to much other than like, ‘Hey man, if you want to lay there and cry on the floor, then that’s up to you.’”