“It’s Really Hard For Me To Deal With” — Luke Combs Gets Extremely Emotional Talking About Missing The Birth Of His Second Son

The best, and worst, day of his life. Luke Combs sat down for an appearance on the Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1 show today, where he of course talked about his impressive new album Fathers & Sons , but also got extremely emotional, even shedding some tears, talking about how he missed the birth of his second son Beau in August of last year. The country superstar was on tour in Australia, and Luke's wife Nicole's due date wasn't for two and a half more weeks. Luke was supposed to be home in time if everything went as scheduled, but of course, when exactly you're going to give birth isn't something you can control, especially so close to the due date. Luke had every intention on being home for the birth, but unfortunately, Beau was ready earlier than anyone thought he would be, and came a little over two weeks early, while Luke was still clear across the world. He opened up to Zane, crying as he told the story: "I'll never forget the craziest day, probably, in my life, close to it. One of the best and one of the worst days in my life at the same time was, interestingly enough, and it's so hard to wrap my mind around it, just if you really think about it. So it's August 16th, I wake up in the morning, I'm in Sydney, Australia, in a hotel room, and we're on tour in Australia. I probably woke up at around 8:00 AM or something like that, Australia time, and I had a text from my wife and it said, 'I'm so sorry, I really tried to not have the baby while you're gone.' And God, dude, it sucked. It sucked because he was born on August 15th in the States." Luke says that text came while they were on the way to the hospital, and he did get to video conference in for the actual birth, but still... that's got to be a heart-wrenching realization and something very clearly (and understandably) still upsets him to think about: "I got to see him be born, which was awesome. He wasn't born yet, but my wife went, she texted me on the way to the hospital and he was two and a half weeks early and I was supposed to be home and I wasn't. And that was real hard to do and I haven't really told anybody that, but I didn't cover that too much in this album because it's really hard for me to deal with." It chokes you up to watch Luke get so choked up, especially considering he is usually so happy-go-lucky and upbeat. Of course, it's a very tough situation that he missed such an important event, but that sadly comes with the territory of being a touring musician... especially when you're playing all over the world to massive crowds like he does. Luke continued, saying he was lucky to have two of his best friends with him in Australia at the time, as they now work for him, and Nicole had her mom and sister back in Nashville who were there for the entire process. Of course, that doesn't make it any easier for Luke, but did give him some peace of mind knowing Nicole was taken care of and everything went well in terms of the actual birth: "It was such a surreal thing. And I'm blessed. I was going to be gone for almost a month, so we had known... Obviously, we didn't plan it that way. Right? Tour was already booked. And we knew there was a chance that he would come early. Luckily, my mother-in-law, she came up for the month while I was gone. Because obviously, we have a 1-year-old and my wife is essentially nine months pregnant at the time, so thank goodness she was there. My sister-in-law lives in Nashville as well. So my wife had a really great support system with her for that experience, which I'm very thankful for. That made it a lot easier. I had people with me, everything went great. No hiccups in the process or anything." Luke added that it's a "defining moment" in his life, and in many ways, sums up the worst part of the music business and what you have to sacrifice to be at his level of success: "And looking back on it, man, it's one of those stories that it's a defining moment in my life for sure. It sums up, in a lot of ways, some of the bad parts of the music business, the leaving, and your schedule's crazy and you're travelling all over the place. It's not like I can drop everything I'm doing and fly 18 hours home." Yep, it's not all shotgunning beer and singing for thousands of screaming fans... I'm sure Beau will one day understand all of the responsibilities and sacrifices his dad made to keep promises and obligations to fans, and I know Luke will be there for all of the really important moments that Beau, and his son Tex, will actually remember. You can watch him tell the story, but seriously, grab a tissue first: https://youtu.be/167C67S85eg?t=1823

Luke Combs Delivers His Most Personal, Heartfelt Album Yet With ‘Fathers & Sons’

His most personal work yet. This past Friday, Luke Combs released his fifth studio album called Fathers & Sons , which is about his journey thus far as a father of two young boys, his perspective of his own dad and special times they've shared together, and how important the role of a father is to be and have, no matter what phase of life you're in. Of course, there are also several songs on the 12-song tracklist that aren't directly related to Luke specifically, like the easy standout "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." As a whole, it's incredibly nuanced and intricate in terms of the fact that Luke seemingly manages to touch on every aspect of being a dad, son or daughter and even grandfather. In many ways, you could consider this a concept album of sorts, and I find it to be so well done and beautifully presented from the writing, production, and of course, his pure country vocals. The album cover is perfect too, which features Luke and his dad, Chester, fishing with his two little ones Tex, who will be two this month, and Beau, who was born last August. I can only imagine how special it will be for Tex and Beau to hear this album when they can full understand it, and it will be something they cherish forever: https://www.instagram.com/p/C8LN0EyxROg/?img_index=1 It's extremely apparent on every song Luke included in this album that being a parent has certainly given him new inspiration and much more depth as a songwriter, and has only added to his life in so many positive and beautiful ways. And whether you're a parent or not, this record has something for everyone, and as a daughter myself, someone who is not a parent, father or son, I found myself tearing up more than once listening to multiple song as I was reminded of so many memories I have with my own dad. Being a parent is an emotional, life-altering experience, and he managed to capture it in such a simple, yet poignant way that I know fans will absolutely relate to and love. Fathers & Sons doesn't have his typical good-timin', beer-drinkin' tunes that we all know and love, but it does have so many deep, introspective and sincere songs that will stand the test of time and define this part of his career as one of the most special and important. Luke's evolution is obvious, and being a father certainly suits him. Here's to all the great dads out there... "In Case I Ain’t Around" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR1eyT2TuKw "Whoever You Turn Out To Be" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2HhBnCtkJ0 "Plant a Seed" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5ZGRo-qnB4 "My Old Man Was Right" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asxPUs1aKKM "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUvG4JA4gNg A career-defining album that show off the best parts of who Luke is as an artist and person, Fathers & Sons is a masterpiece full of emotion, lessons learned and hopes for the future, and is already in contention as the all-around best body of work the North Carolina native has ever released. Fathers & Sons tracklist: 1. “Front Door Famous” 2. “In Case I Ain’t Around” 3. “Huntin’ By yourself” 4. “Little Country Boys” 5. “Whoever You Turn Out To Be” 6. “Remember Him That Way” 7. “The Man He Sees in Me” 8. “All I Ever Do Is Leave” 9. “Plant a Seed” 10. “Ride Around Heaven” 11. “My Old Man Was Right” 12. “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”