Luke Combs is one of country music’s biggest stars, and he plans to keep it that way.
Will Luke Combs Crossover To Pop Music?
“That’s something I haven’t really entertained,” Combs recently shared, via ABC, when asked about crossing into a new musical genre: pop. “I’ve been approached about it more than a few times, and I don’t know. It’s just [that] I feel to me, country music is enough. I don’t want to be a pop star. You know what I mean? Like, I love our genre and I love writing country songs with my songwriting buddies and singing them with the guys that I like to make records with.”
The 33-year-old added, “I’m not chasing anything. I’m not chasing fame or notoriety or money.”
Would Luke Combs Release A Non-Country Collaboration?
Combs has released a number of collaborations with his fellow country artists including Eric Church, Miranda Lambert and Riley Green. He’s also released a duet with Ed Sheeran, but fans shouldn’t hold their breath for Combs’ next non-country collaboration.
“If a really amazing collaboration came along, I would want it to be on a country song,” he said. “I would want somebody to do a country song with me. I wouldn’t want to go do a pop song with somebody else just because it would be good for my career. I’ve never made decisions based on that. I’ve always let the music lead where we go and what we do because that’s why we’re all here, right?”
“We all love music at the end of the day,” he continued. “I’m in the music business. I don’t love business [but] I do love music.”
Chart-Topping “Fast Car” Cover
Combs’ comments come after massive all-genre success for his cover of Tracy Chapman’s 1988 hit song “Fast Car,” which has been holding at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Billboard Country Airplay chart. It recently became the most-heard song on radio in all genres.
The cover was also nominated for Single of the Year at the 2023 CMA Awards as well as Song of the Year, giving Chapman, who is the only writer on the song, her first CMA Awards nomination.
After the song first began taking off, Chapman gave Combs a shoutout on Instagram in June, posting a video of herself performing “Fast Car” that cut to a clip of Combs singing the song while playing guitar.
“Who would want to see this collaboration?” her caption read. “Congratulations to @lukecombs success with Fast Car.”
Tracy Chapman Reacted To Combs’ “Fast Car” Cover
She also addressed Combs’ cover in a statement to Billboard, saying, “I never expected to find myself on the country charts, but I’m honored to be there. I’m happy for Luke and his success and grateful that new fans have found and embraced ‘Fast Car.’”
Combs later responded to Chapman’s statement with his own message to Billboard.
“Oh man, ‘Fast Car’ has surprised me more than you can imagine. Tracy Chapman wrote this perfect song that I first heard with my dad and it has stayed with me since,” he said. “I have played it in my live show now for six-plus years and everyone — I mean everyone — across all these stadiums relates to this song and sings along. That’s the gift of a supernatural songwriter. The success of my cover is unreal and I think it’s so cool that Tracy is getting recognized and has reached new milestones. I love that she is out there feeling all the love and that she gave me a shout-out! Thank you, Tracy!”
For more information on Luke Combs, visit his official website HERE.
