NASHVILLE, Tenn.,
May 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The
Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum will explore the
life and career of Luke Combs in a
new exhibition, Luke Combs: The
Man I Am. The exhibit will trace Combs' story from singing with
his school choirs in North
Carolina to headlining stadiums around the world. The
exhibit, which will be open from July
11 until June 2025, is
included with museum admission.
"Few artists have experienced the kind of meteoric rise and
sustained success Luke Combs has
since signing his first recording contract just two years after
moving to Nashville," said
Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music
Hall of Fame and Museum. "He has earned a career-defining string of
#1 singles, set new benchmarks on the music charts, won more than a
dozen major country music industry awards since 2016 and sold out
stadiums around the world."
"Once I decided I wanted to do music as a career, it didn't
matter if it was for 100 people or 1,000 people, I just wanted to
be playing Country Music for anyone who would listen," said
Luke Combs. "If I could have enough
fans to call it a job, I was set. Other than that, I never dreamed
of being featured in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum,
much less having my own exhibit; that was beyond my wildest dreams.
But honestly, it's all a credit to my fans, family, songwriters and
team. I have only made it to where I am today because of them, and
this honor is one of my most humbling yet. At my core I love
Country Music and this exhibit is as prestigious of an honor as it
gets."
The exhibit will include stage wear, tour memorabilia,
manuscripts, set lists, instruments, photographs, posters,
childhood memorabilia and more. Examples of items to be displayed
include:
- Martin GPCPA4 Sapele acoustic guitar Combs used extensively at
his early performances, 2012–2014. When he moved to Nashville, Combs gave the instrument to his
friend and fellow performer Adam
Church.
- Playbill from Combs' leading role as Nathan Detroit in the
musical "Guys and Dolls" during his senior year at A. C. Reynolds
High School, Asheville, North
Carolina.
- CD-R of the three songs recorded for Combs's debut EP, The
Way She Rides, signed by Combs and Adam
Church and given to Church's parents. Combs wrote on the
paper sleeve, "To the Church's / Y'all rock SO hard!"
- Columbia PFG shirt and Swamp Assassin ball cap Combs wore in
the 2016 music video for "Hurricane."
- Manuscript of "Six Feet Apart," co-written by Combs,
Brent Cobb and Rob Snyder on April 14,
2020.
- Dale Earnhardt commemorative
leather jacket Combs wore in honor of the famed stock car racer and
team owner when he performed at Daytona International Speedway
prior to the start of the NASCAR Daytona 500, Feb. 14, 2021. Earnhardt was killed on the final
lap of the Daytona 500 in 2001.
- Jersey that Combs wore when he was a member of the Rockets
football team at A. C. Reynolds High School.
- Dollar bill Combs kept as a memento from his first paying gig
at Boone's Parthenon Café, where
the cover charge was $1.
- Crosley Dansette portable record player Combs used to share his
recording of "Beautiful Crazy" with Nicole
Hocking, now his wife, for the first time.
In support of the exhibition, Combs will participate in a
songwriter round in the museum's CMA Theater on Thursday, July 11, at 2:30 p.m. During the program, Combs will be
joined by four of his songwriting collaborators — Ray Fulcher, James
McNair, Drew Parker and
Rob Williford — to share the stories
behind and perform some of the songs they have written together.
Tickets will be available here on Friday,
May 17 at 10 a.m. Central.
Growing up in North Carolina,
Combs enjoyed singing from a young age. His parents encouraged his
innate talent by taking him to concerts — his first was a
Vince Gill show with his mom and
grandmother — and buying him a guitar, which he stopped
playing after only a few lessons, when he was in middle school.
Combs joined several school choirs and was cast in four school
musicals while growing up. While attending Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, he studied criminal
justice, played rugby and sang in an a cappella group.
During the summer after his junior year, when he was feeling
frustrated and uncertain of his future, Combs' mother reminded him
of the guitar in his closet and told him Kenny Chesney and Tim
McGraw learned to play when they were his age. So, Combs
spent his free time teaching himself to play the instrument.
Back in Boone for his senior
year, Combs began performing around town and building an online
following with clips of himself singing country and R&B covers
— including Tracy Chapman's "Fast
Car" — and original songs that he posted on YouTube and Vine, a
short-lived platform for six-second videos.
Combs visited Nashville in
January 2014 to record his debut EP,
The Way She Rides, and permanently moved to the area that
September, at age 24. He signed with a booking agent within a year
and filled small rooms throughout the Southeast with fans who had
discovered him online. After independently releasing three EPs, and
with buzz building around him in part due to his song "Hurricane,"
Combs signed a record deal with River House Artists and Sony Music
Nashville in October 2016, two years
after moving to Nashville.
"Hurricane" earned Combs his first country radio #1 in
May 2017. His debut album from the
same year, This One's for You, which included
"Hurricane," spent 50 weeks atop the country albums chart, tying
Shania Twain's record for most weeks at #1. In 2019, Combs became
the first artist to top the Billboard Country Airplay chart with
his first five singles — and then extended the record to 13
consecutive #1 songs. Through April
2024, he has amassed a total of 16 solo Billboard Country
Airplay chart-toppers.
After playing small shows in bars, clubs and theaters for
several years, Combs began headlining shows in front of thousands
in arenas and amphitheaters in 2019. His sold-out 2023 world tour
took him to stadiums throughout North
America and arenas in Europe, Australia and New
Zealand.
Combs keeps a close circle of songwriting collaborators. Like
him, many were unproven talents when they first crossed paths in
Nashville. When his first four
singles topped the country radio chart in 2017 and 2018, the songs'
nine co-writers all earned their first #1 hits. Among those
songwriters was Ray Fulcher, who has
written more than two dozen of Combs's songs, including six #1s.
Dan Isbell, James McNair, Randy
Montana, Jonathan Singleton
and Rob Williford are also mainstays
in the writing group.
Combs has also written with other artists, including a duet with
Miranda Lambert, "Outrunnin' Your
Memory," and a collaboration with Billy Strings, "The Great
Divide," that they wrote with Wyatt
Durrette. Songs written by Combs have been recorded by Gabby
Barrett ("Dance Like No One's Watching"), Zac Brown Band ("Out in the Middle") and
Carly Pearce and Lee Brice, whose duet "I Hope You're Happy Now"
is Combs' first chart-topper as a songwriter only.
The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum collects,
preserves and interprets country music and its history for the
education and entertainment of diverse audiences. In exhibitions,
publications, digital media and educational programs, the museum
explores the cultural importance and enduring beauty of the art
form. The museum is operated by the Country Music Foundation, a
not-for-profit 501(c)(3) educational organization chartered by the
state of Tennessee in 1964. The museum is accredited by the
American Alliance of Museums, and is among the most-visited history
museums in the U.S. The Country Music Foundation operates Historic
RCA Studio B®, Hatch Show Print® poster shop,
CMF Records, the Frist Library and Archive and CMF Press. Museum
programs are supported in part by Metropolitan Nashville Arts
Commission and Tennessee Arts Commission.
More information about the Country Music Hall of
Fame® and Museum is available at
www.countrymusichalloffame.org or by calling (615)
416-2001.
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SOURCE Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum