At this year’s 2022 CMA Awards Ceremony on November 9th, Luke Combs was nominated for Entertainer of the Year amongst names such as Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood, Morgan Wallen and Chris Stapleton. Combs stated that, “I remember last year when I won, a bunch of people reached out to me, They said, ‘Hey man, just enjoy tonight. It may never happen again and it’s the pinnacle of success you can have in this business.’ I’m not gonna lie to you. I was so nervous about tonight, I was doing some interviews on Monday, and people were asking me about it — I remember having this somber thought of, ‘This could be the last two days that I’m Entertainer of the Year, ever. I may never win this again.'”
After the awards show passed on Wednesday night, Combs was able to breathe a sigh of relief as he nabbed the Entertainer trophy for the second time, and also received an ward for Album of the Year for his Growin’ Up project. Combs said the experience served as a reminder to stay focused on the moment saying that, “My wife is here. Our son is at home. My parents are still around. [I’m focused on] just being thankful for the things that I have right now, enjoying the moment that I’m in, and not looking forward or dwelling on things in the past, I get to live my dream every day with the people I love living it with me. I try to be as thankful for that every day as I can. I had a show a few weeks back and went out there, and everyone has tough days at work, I had a rough night a few weeks ago. I remember coming off stage and going in the green room for half an hour, sitting there by myself, taking stock of why I do what I do.”
Combs continued to say, “… I remember thinking, ‘Okay, you’ve won Entertainer, you’ve done this, you’ve done that, you’ve checked so many boxes — what is the thing that keeps you coming back? And then there was this little girl in the audience [with a sign that read] ‘Will you sing ‘Even Though I’m Leaving’ for my daddy in heaven?’ I remember reading that sign, and being a dad now myself, just going, ‘This is why I step out here.’ It’s not for money. It’s not for awards. It’s for people who spend their hard-earned money to come out and spend maybe the only Saturday night they go out for the whole year to come see me.”
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