Throughout his rise to country stardom and ever since his arrival as one of the genre's most visible celebrities, Luke Combs has spoken glowingly about his parents: Rhonda and Chester Combs.
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Luke was born on March 2, 1990, in Huntersville, NC. As an only child, Luke and his parents relocated to Asheville, NC, when the future hitmaker was 8. Both parents worked full time while raising their son on a fixed income.
"My parents have always been really great at living within their means and not buying anything that they couldn't afford," Combs said during the 2019 CMA Fest (as quoted by The Boot). "I didn't understand how important that was until I started working. My parents just always told me, 'If you want something, and you can't afford it, just don't get it.'"
In some ways, Rhonda and Chester are public figures who are often present at their son's concerts. However, little is known about them, from their ages to their past careers.
That said, Luke has talked about them frequently in interviews over the years, making it easy to imagine them as typical, hard-working parents.
Here's what we do know about their impact on Luke's career and the ways he's paid them back since becoming a superstar.
Rhonda Inspired Luke to Play Music
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Luke wasn't a child prodigy by any means. Although he sang in his school's chorus and musicals and his church's choir, his development as a singer-songwriter and guitarist began during his years studying at Appalachian State University.
"I was working a job at a go-cart place in Asheville, where I worked in high school," Luke told "Today's" Willie Geist. "I'd just go to work, go home. I was sitting there like, 'Man, I don't have anything to do.' My mom was like, 'Well, you know Kenny Chesney, he didn't learn to play guitar until he was 21.' I was 21 at the time. I was like, 'Oh, if that guy can do it, then I can do it.'"
Luke Spent Early-Stardom Earnings on His Parents
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After the hit single "Hurricane" changed Luke's fortunes in 2016, he began giving back to his parents. With his first sizable paycheck, he paid off his childhood home, where his parents still reside to this day.
"I remember calling my parents and being like, 'I'm paying your house off.' And they were like, 'What? You can't. No. Don't do that,'" Luke told Apple Music's Zane Lowe. "And I was like, 'No. I'm doing it. That's what I'm doing.' So I bought myself a truck and I pay my parents' house off first thing away.
"It was the first thing I did, man. I mean, had to," he continued. "Had to because you realize how hard ... I mean, we didn't have a lot of money, man. We did not. My parents were really good at making it seem like we were doing fine. And we were doing fine. I had everything I needed and not a lot of what I wanted. I'll put it that way."
Since then, he's given his parents enough to help both retire early, freeing them up to live the type of life they couldn't previously afford.
"That decision was solely predicated off being able to spend more time with my parents as they get older," Luke told CMT. "My mom retired literally two weeks ago. So watching that happen has been not only a joy for me, but a great way for them to have the financial freedom and the ability to come out and experience some of these awesome things that I get to do, right by my side, which I wouldn't trade it for anything."
