Luke Combs was once just another normal dude out of North Carolina — until he spent his final $200 so that we could hear his debut song, “Hurricane.”
Combs sat down with Today host Willie Geist and he explained the story of how “Hurricane” made it to country radio.
“I hit my boy Scotty, who was producing my stuff at the time, and I’m like ‘Hey man, let’s release these songs,'” the singer recalled.
Combs had come to Nashville to record a few songs, and he burned through just about all of his money in the process, but releasing them would take a little more cash than he’d counted on spending.
Combs’ producer told him that they could only release the songs once they were mastered.
Combs jokes, “I’m like ‘One, what is that? Two, how much does it cost?’ He’s like ‘$200 bucks a song,’ and I’m like ‘$200 bucks a song? What does it make it spit out a gold bar at the end?'”
These days, he’s one of the biggest country superstars on the planet and rakes in millions every year. But back then, Combs was worried about the last $200 in his bank account, and wondering how he could stretch that into a song that could be his big break.
How Did Luke Combs Choose ‘Hurricane’ As His First Song Release?
Luke Combs told his producer at the time that he only had $200 bucks left in his bank account and that he could only choose one of the batch of a few songs he had recorded to master it.
Combs decided to choose “Hurricane” as his first song release to the world. “So I decided to do “Hurricane,” put it out and it sells 10,000 copies the first week.”
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Did Luke Combs Have A Record Deal When ‘Hurricane’ Came Out?
No. As a matter of fact, Combs didn’t have a record label representing him, or a manager or any public relations firm on deck. He did it solo, out of the back of his trunk.
Combs explains that he then used the money he made from the 10,000 copies of “Hurricane” to master the rest of the songs he had recorded in Nashville.
He then met his manager and used the album he had put together to pitch to record labels, and the rest is history.
Combs joked at the end of the interview that “Hurricane” did indeed spit out a gold bar at the end, just like he joked about it doing before he spent his final $200 to get it mastered.
Keep scrolling for more Luke Combs songs to keep your radio blasting.
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Check out Luke Combs’ best songs, and the songs that changed his life when so many thought he wasn’t good enough to be a country star.
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Gallery Credit: Carena Liptak
