SNL is goin’ country! Luke Combs, 29, is set to make his debut on the legendary NBC stage and he is just excited as us! “Bucket list. Super excited for Saturday night,” the singer tweeted on Thursday, Jan. 30! Of course, Luke is a superstar in the country world with six number one hits and his nod as Male Artist of the Year at the American Country Music Awards in 2019. Here’s 5 things to know about the singer making his SNL debut on Super Bowl weekend!
1. He’s engaged! Luke announced in November 2018 that he had gotten engaged to his longtime girlfriend, Nicole Hocking. He proposed in Hawaii, and posted a photo of himself and Nicole after the proposal with the caption, “She said yes a while ago, but this is a way better place to take pictures than the kitchen. Can’t wait to spend forever with you i love you!” Luke and Nicole dated for more than two years before they got engaged, and she even starred in his music video for “When It Rains It Pours.”
2. He went to college for business. Yep, you heard that right. Luke almost held an entirely different career! He went to Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina to study business. However, once he started playing gigs around his college town, his music career started taking off.
3. His single, “Hurricane” put him on the map. The infectious single reached No. 1 on the Country Radio airplay charts in 2017, hanging on to the spot for two weeks straight. Since then, he has had other chart topping hits, like “When It Rains It Pours,” “One Number Away,” “She Got The Best Of Me,” and “Beautiful Crazy.
4. He’s was nominated for a 2019 Grammy alongside some insanely talented fellow nominees. Luke shared the category with Chloe X Halle, Greta Van Fleet, H.E.R., Dua Lipa, Margo Price, Bebe Rexha, and Jorja Smith this year. He touched upon the nod in an interview with Billboard. “It’s just a very humbling thing. We’ve been working for a long time so it’s a big thing for me and my guys on the road and everybody behind the scenes. They’re the ones doing the leg work to make stuff like this happen,” he said.
5. He’s survived the ultimate tragedy. Luke was performing at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival, just hours before the deadly shooting that took place there, in 2017, where over 50 people were killed.