ABC/Randy HolmesLuke Combs‘ This One’s for You is the fastest-selling debut album to go platinum since Chris Stapleton‘s Traveller record. Next month, Luke and Chris will go head to head for the Male Vocalist at the CMA Awards, but Luke says being compared to Stapleton — and even a little friendly competition — is just fine with him.
“It means a lot,” Luke tells ABC Radio. “It’s been a lot of hard work to get to this point, so I definitely feel like it’s earned. But it’s obviously awesome to be put in that category with Chris. He’s a super-stallion himself, a great singer and obviously exploded on the scene.”
“Everybody in Nashville’s known about him for a decade,” Luke adds. “But he exploded onto the scene with that [CMA performance] with Justin Timberlake, and it’s really cool to see that we’re at least running on the same track as he was.”
Luke will soon likely have his fourth #1 from the deluxe reissue of his debut, titled This One’s for You Too, with “She Got the Best of Me.” But the North Carolina native reveals he’s not too worried about album number two.
“I don’t think I’m feeling any pressure,” he says. “I’ve recorded a lot of songs. I’ve recorded a ton of songs in January. I’m hoping to record a lot more this coming January.”
“So the sophomore album could be two albums, I think,” he explains. “There’s enough songs for that, enough material for sure. So I think the pressure’s off, really. Now it’s kind of waiting to be able to release it.”
Luke is also up for New Artist of the Year at the Wednesday, November 14 CMA Awards. Tune in to see if he wins starting at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
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