Luke Combs and Morgan Wallen are unarguable two of the biggest stars in country music today, and both have experienced success outside the genre with record-breaking appearances and success on the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard 200 albums charts.
In a conversation with Grady Smith earlier this year, Combs was asked about Wallen and his success, as well as all the comparisons the two receive. When Smith wondered if it bothered Combs, the North Carolina native responded that it’s actually the opposite.
“People always want there to be a rivalry, right?” he said. “There was Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean, there was that. There was Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney… People always need the yin and yang thing. I think it’s good for music.”
Watch Luke Combs’ Full Interview With Grady Smith Below
Smith also brought Zach Bryan into the conversation, noting that fans constantly bring up their favorite artists when commenting on another artist’s work.
“We see it too, I’m sure those guys see it all the time, too,” Combs said. “It’s like you’re just constantly compared, when really all three of us are insanely different to one another… All three of us couldn’t be more different in a lot of ways, musically speaking.”
“There’s No Arguing Morgan Is Out-Streaming Everything In The World”
Though Combs is musically different from his peers, he admitted that he can’t argue with Wallen’s incredible streaming success.
“I think there’s no arguing Morgan is out-streaming everybody in the world by double or something. It’s insane,” he said. “The numbers are insane. It’s either him or Taylor Swift at the top [of the Billboard Hot 100], and it’s like I’m number four. It’s crazy.”
Combs and Wallen helped make Billboard Hot 100 history this summer when they, along with Jason Aldean, held the Top 3 spots on the chart (with “Fast Car,” “Last Night” and “Try That in a Small Town,” respectively), marking the first time in the ranking’s history that country songs have held the Top 3 positions.
Combs and Wallen helped achieve the feat again a few weeks later when Oliver Anthony’s viral “Rich Men North of Richmond” took the No. 1 spot.
Eric Church Inspired Both Combs And Wallen To Pursue Country Music
The two stars also share something else in common, having revealed on separate occasions that Eric Church was the person who inspired them to pursue a path in country music.
On Straight Up Steve Austin, Combs recalled a time when he didn’t feel he could relate to country music, which changed when one of his friends in college introduced him to Church’s music.
“I think the reason myself and my parents stopped listening to country music at that time, it wasn’t at that moment in time as relatable. A lot of guys got heavy into the beach, it was getting more poppy sounding at that time,” he said. “And not to say I’m Merle Haggard, because I’m not, I’m not claiming to be that either, but that was the big shift.”
“When I got to Appalachian State, a guy that lived on my floor brought in an Eric Church CD and said, ‘Hey this guy went to college here, you should check him out,’” he continued. “Once I heard Eric, I was like, ‘This is something I can relate to, and if he can do that and he’s from here, and I’m from here, I can do that.’ And that’s kind of where the fire caught spark for lack of a better term.”
Wallen told ET Canada that the first concert he attended was Church’s Outsiders Tour stop in 2014 in Knoxville, Tennessee when Wallen was 21 years old.
“I was already a huge fan just because of his style of writing, his style of music, I just fell in love with everything that he did,” Wallen shared. “Once I saw him in concert that ignited a real fire in me that maybe I could be like that one day.”
