Luke Combs Says He Grew Up Listening To Punk Rock: “Blink 182 Was Great, Loved That… I’m A 1990 Kid”

Luke Combs country music
Luke Combs

Here’s to growing up and getting old…

It feels like just yesterday that Luke Combs was breaking out on the scene with his hit single “Hurricane,” but nearly 20 #1 singles later, you realize it’s been 7 years since the breakout single. Now, getting into his mid-thirties, Luke is a little older, a little wiser, and his music is a reflection of that. His last two studio albums, essentially a two-part project, are titled Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old, and find Luke opening up more on the big changes that typically come with hitting 30.

A while back, the man of the people sat down with Zane Lowe from Apple Music to discuss the new release, along with his own timeline of growing up as just a kid from North Carolina, his struggles, and how far he’s come, considering he’s a married man and now a father of two young boys.

In the interview, he talked about the day he was finally able to pay off his parents’ house, and getting that headache out of the way:

“They’re super proud, man, and they love to come out and go to different places they hadn’t been before and see shows and hang out. That’s a unique thing.  And I remember calling my parents and being like, ‘I’m paying your house off.’

And they were like, ‘What? You can’t. No. Don’t do that.’ And I was like, ‘No. I’m doing it. That’s what I’m doing.’

So I bought myself a truck and I pay my parents house off first thing away. It was the first thing I did, man. I mean, had to. Had to because you realize how hard… I mean, we didn’t have a lot of money, man. We did not.

My parents were really good at making it seem like we were doing fine. And we were doing fine. I had everything I needed and not a lot of what I wanted. I’ll put it that way. That was the coolest thing ever.”

Combs also made an interesting point about struggling with his weight, and although he has always preached being comfortable in your own skin, it’s always been one of those things he’s struggled with in the back of his mind. In addition to wanting to better manage his weight, he also attributed overcoming a lot of his demons and struggles to his wife, Nicole, and the fans at his shows. Those are the two things that keep him going when he feels like he’s a mess on the inside.

But perhaps one of the most intriguing parts of the interview, was when he discussed his love for punk rock music back in the day. I mean c’mon, you’d be lying if you said you didn’t enjoy a few Blink-182, Yellowcard, Green Day songs, and more at some point.

And with Blink 182 back together, and just releasing a new album, One More Time… I’m sure Luke has been reliving the glory days like the rest of us:

“I listened to a lot of punk rock growing up. I did. I loved Television. Dead Kennedys. NOFX. Obviously, the Green Days of the world. Blink-182 was great. Loved that. You grew up on that stuff.

I’m a 1990 kid. Rancid. Yeah. Loved Rancid. The Clash. Big Clash fan as well.”

Punk rock Luke… I could see it.

Needless to say, it appears that Combs is in a pretty good place in his life right now, and we all can’t wait to see how much further he goes in his country music career. You can watch the full interview below, and make sure to check out the new album if you haven’t already.

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