By Beth Heyn | 22 June 2022 | Heavy.com
Country music star Luke Combs has revealed that he was rejected by NBC’s “The Voice” before he got where he is in the music industry.
Combs is one of the most successful artists in the country music genre as of 2022. He was first heard on the radio in 2017 with his song “Hurricane,” and he has since released over a dozen number 1 hits and performed at sold-out stadium shows.
He also made history in 2020 by becoming the only artist in 56 years whose first two studio albums sat on the country charts at number 1 for 25 or more weeks, according to Billboard.
On an episode of the “Full Send” podcast, Combs talked about being rejected by “The Voice.”
“I tell them I want to do a country song, and they are like, ‘Oh, well, you didn’t sing country before,’” he recalled a conversation with the producers. “I’m like, ‘So I have to sing one kind of [music]? The show is just about being a singer.’ There’s got to be some sort of angle.”
He added, “I got a letter back after the next audition – which, I made it through – and they told me essentially I was too boring to be on television.”
Combs said that he still has the letter in storage, which told him that he was a great singer but wasn’t what they were looking for.
“Essentially it’s about ratings, right?” he added.
Combs was attending college, and he showed up to the producer round of auditions during his spring break.
“They had four audition cities and narrowed it from about 10,000 to 200 people,” he later told Whiskey Riff. “Then you don’t know if you made it to the show for a few months.”
Blake Shelton opened up about how he felt when he learned that Combs had been rejected from the show early on, according to Outsider.
“Luke told me that he kept his rejection letter, his letter telling him he wasn’t going to be on the show,” Shelton shared. “He said he put that in his dorm room in college and he hung it on the wall to push him on, something to fight for.”
Shelton said that Combs should take the letter if he still has it, “frame it, and put it next to his first triple-platinum letter that he has.”
His luck keeps getting better, too. Luke and his wife, Nicole, welcomed their first child on Father’s Day in 2022.
“Welp he decided that Fathers Day would be a good time to show up,” Combs wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of he and his wife in their nursery with their baby. “I couldn’t agree more. Me and @nicolejcombs are over the moon in love with this little guy. Mama and baby are healthy and we’re back home now with family. Life is good.”
He added, “Everyone welcome Tex Lawrence Combs to the world!”
Read more at Country Music Star Rejected by ‘The Voice’ | Heavy.com
