Luke Combs has played to packed stadiums all over the world. On Wednesday night he’ll step onto one more big stage, at the 60th CMA Awards in Nashville.
But the thing that weighs on him most right now isn’t a trophy or a setlist. It’s a talk he expects to have with one of his little boys someday.
The CMA Awards air Wednesday, Nov 18, live from Bridgestone Arena. The show runs 8 to 11 PM Eastern on ABC with Lainey Wilson as host. Luke is on the list of performers.
If you follow Luke at all, you know where his heart is. He said it straight out on the Jay Shetty Podcast earlier this year.
“My whole identity is that, no matter what, I’m gonna prioritize my wife and my children over my job, over what I do.”
His wife is Nicole Combs. Together they’re raising three little boys. Their first son, Tex Lawrence, was born on Father’s Day in June 2022. Luke even named his 2024 album “Fathers & Sons.”
Start with the official video for “Whoever You Turn Out to Be,” a song from that album, because the title sounds like a promise any dad could make to his kids.
Luke Combs’s official video for “Whoever You Turn Out to Be”
Now for the hard part of the story.
Tex and his little brother were born about 14 months apart. Luke and Nicole found out they were expecting again only a few months after Tex arrived, and by then Luke’s 2023 world tour had already sold out.
“There’s no canceling the tour. It’s sold out before we even know we’re pregnant.”
Their second son, Beau Lee, was born in August 2023. Luke was in Australia.
He got a text that Nicole was in labor. He was four days from heading home.
“He comes two and a half weeks early. I’m four days from going home and he decides to show up,” Luke said. “I’m in Australia when Beau is born. That’s a crushing and devastating thing.”
And that’s the night behind the question he can’t shake. “I dread the conversation with my son at some point,” Luke admitted. He already knows how Beau might put it: “Why was I the only one that you weren’t there for?”
Then, quietly: “I worry about that a lot.”
There’s a happy new chapter, too. In February 2026 the Combs family welcomed a third boy, Chet Wiley. This time Luke and Nicole did something different from the first two times. They waited to find out it was a boy until he arrived.
Nicole shared the news with a sweet post: “Happy due date to the littlest Combs BOY! We’ve loved soaking up these last few weeks of newborn snuggles.”
If you’d like to hear Luke talk about being a dad in his own voice, this Apple Music sit-down is worth your time, since he gets into the album and the tough parts of fatherhood.
Luke talking about fatherhood with Apple Music
Plenty of moms and dads have missed a big moment because of work. Most of us just don’t have to talk about it in public.
Luke does, and he hasn’t dodged it. When he walks onto that CMA stage Wednesday night, three boys back home will be a big part of why he’s out there. The show starts at 8 PM Eastern on ABC.