Should have checked his text messages.
At this point in his career, Cody Johnson is one of the biggest success stories flying out of the uber-talented Texas country scene. After years of making waves in the Lone Star state, Johnson introduced himself to the mainstream back in 2018 with the release of “On My Way To You,” and in many ways, never looked back from there.
Along the way, he’s captured a plethora of major industry awards, including CMA Single of the Year and ACM Song of the Year for “Dirt Cheap,” CMA Album of the Year for Leather and most recently (and notably) scoring his first-ever Entertainer of the Year at the 61st ACM Awards this past May.
You can point to a plethora of songs that have defined Johnson’s career, ranging from the likes of “‘Til You Can’t” and “The Fall” to “Diamond In My Pocket” and “With You I Am.” In many ways, however, “Dirt Cheap” has remained one of his most impactful, and as it turns out, he wasn’t even the first option for the song.
As we know, “Dirt Cheap” was written independently by Josh Phillips. Before the song was pitched to CoJo, Luke Combs was actually sent the song first. As it turns out, however, Luke didn’t even check his phone when he was sent the song and didn’t hear it until Johnson already released it, something he told Country Countdown USA’s Lon Helton back in 2024.
“He didn’t click on it. So here’s to you Luke! He didn’t listen to it until I after released it. He thought the title looked familiar. I talked about it afterwards, he had some choice words to say about Dirt Cheap. I said, ‘Everything happens for a reason.’”
Over the weekend, CoJo was making his rounds during CMA Fest, not only headlining night two on Friday, but also making appearances at Blake Shelton’s Ole Red for Spotify House and Eric Church’s Chief’s bar during The Highway on Sirius XM’s Music Row Happy Hour takeover.
During the appearance at Chief’s with The Highway, Johnson would dive into his process while choosing songs, in reference to picking “Dirt Cheap,” noting that he never wants to see who wrote a song in order to judge it by its quality — not who wrote it.
“When it comes to the songwriters, man, when I’m picking songs, I don’t want to know who the songwriter is. I might be biased, you know. I want the best song to win.”
Immediately after, Johnson would once again reiterate the fact that Combs never checked his text messages when Phillips sent him the song. Additionally, he’d share the “Beer Never Broke My Heart” singer’s hilarious reaction to the success “Dirt Cheap” went on to have for CoJo.
“This song was sent to Luke Combs, and Luke’s dumbass didn’t open the text message. We were duck hunting in Mississippi, and he said, ‘I could kill you for that song, Dirt Cheap.'”
@highwaysiriusxm Someone tell @lukecombs to check his text messages next time 🤣 @cojonation #CMAfest ♬ original sound – The Highway on SiriusXM
Obviously, it was nothing more than some fun banter between two great friends, but it made for one hell of a story for the two superstars. Hopefully for Combs’ sake, it taught him to check his phone a bit more frequently.
“Dirt Cheap”
Cody Johnson Tour Dates
May 30 – Rosemont, Illinois – Allstate Center
July 11 – Cavendish, Prince Edward Island – Cavendish Beach Music Festival
July 17 – Columbus, Ohio – Nationwide Arena with Drew Baldridge
July 18 – Columbus, Ohio – Nationwide Arena with Ian Munsick & Walker Montgomery
July 25 – Jacksonville, Florida – Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena
August 8 – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – Paycom Center
August 22 – Knoxville, Tennessee – Food City Center
August 29 – Saint Paul, Minnesota – Grand Casino Arena
September 12 – Tacoma, Washington – Tacoma Dome
