Luke Combs scored his 17th No. 1 single with “Love You Anyway,” a song that serves as a tribute to his wife, Nicole Combs.
“Love You Anyway” claimed the top spot on the Mediabase Country Airplay chart as well as the Billboard Country Airplay chart, where he also sits at No.2 with his cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car.”
Makes History On The Billboard Country Airplay Chart
With this feat, the country superstar made history as the first artist to have two solo songs claim the No.1 and No.2 spot on the Billboard Country Airplay chart since its inception in 1990.
Previously, Luke Bryan held the No.1 and No.2 positions in 2014 when he claimed the top spot with his chart-topping hit, “Play it Again,” while simultaneously occupying the second position with Florida Georgia Line’s “This is How We Roll,” which Bryan was featured on.
Luke Combs let his fans have the power to select this single earlier this year. It was a “neck in neck” between “Love You Anyway” and “5 Leaf Clover,” and according to Combs, the vote was 51% – 49%.
“Love You Anyway”
Combs, who recently welcomed his second child with his wife, Nicole, released the song on Valentine’s Day.
Co-written by Combs alongside Ray Fulcher and Reid Isbell, “Love You Anyway” finds Combs professing an endless love for his wife, a love so strong that it can even withstand pain and heartbreak.
“There’s just some things that leave a man no choice / Like a compass needle needing its true north / Even if I knew, the day we met, you’d be the reason this heart breaks / I’d love you anyway,” Combs sings on the track.
Story Behind “Love You Anyway”
At the time of the track’s release, Combs took to social media to explain how “Love You Anyway” came into fruition during a concert in 2020.
“Valentine’s Day 2020. I was playing a show and had dedicated “Beautiful Crazy” to Nicole and said, ‘If you’re in here (the arena), I love you. If not, you know I do anyway.’ Unknown to me, my buddy Dan wrote down ‘Love You Anyway’ as a title in his phone after hearing that, then he told me the story later that month when he and I were writing with my good friend Ray Fulcher,” he explained. “We loved the idea as a title and decided to write about loving someone so much that even if you knew from the beginning they were going to break your heart, you’d love them anyway.”
Combs continued, “It came off very poetic and we wanted to find the words that could really give meaning to what we were trying to say, but as we say in the song, we didn’t know if there were deep enough words made for that. But it all came together and essentially it’s a heartbreak and love song all in one. And long story short, me dedicating a song I wrote about Nicole ended up turning into another song about Nicole, and now three years later the song is finally out at the same time of year. It’s a special one to me and I hope y’all love it as much as I do.”
Acoustic Rendition Of The Tune
Luke Combs previously shared an acoustic performance clip to accompany the track.
This isn’t the first song he’s written that was inspired by his wife. In fact, Combs has written a trilogy of hits with her in mind, including “Beautiful Crazy,” “Better Together” and “Forever After All.”
New Album, Gettin’ Old
“Love You Anyway” is a track from Combs’ latest album, Gettin’ Old, which arrived on March 24, 2023.
Gettin’ Old features 18 tracks, including “Growin’ Up And Gettin’ Old,” “See Me Now,” “Joe,” “Tattoo On A Sunburn,” “5 Leaf Clover,” as well as his chart-topping cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car,” and more.
“This album is about the stage of life I’m in right now. One that I’m sure a lot of us are in, have been through, or will go through,” Combs previously explained on social media.
He continued, “It’s about coming of age, loving where life is now but at the same time missing how it used to be, continuing to fall for the one you love and loving them no matter what, living in the moment but still wondering how much time you have left, family, friends, being thankful, and leaving a legacy. Me and so many others have poured their hearts and souls into this record and I hope you love it as much as we do.”
Touring
Additionally, Luke Combs will head overseas in October to complete his massive 2023 world tour and recently announced his 2024 Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old Tour, which is scheduled to kick off on April 12 in Milwaukee, WI.
For more information on Luke Combs’ upcoming tour dates, visit his official website HERE.
