On Purpose with Jay Shetty
LUKE COMBS: The Man Behind The Success (Marriage, Fatherhood & Life With OCD)
02 Mar 2026
Chapter 1: What themes of success and family are introduced?
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The guy that says he's always going to be there and that will do anything to be there is the only guy that's not there. I'm in Australia when Beau is born. My whole identity is that no matter what, I'm going to prioritize my wife and my children over my job. I dread the conversation with my son.
What do you think you'd say?
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Chapter 2: How does Luke Combs navigate the challenges of fame?
in here and it's like I'm not there you know I still have a proclivity to be able to go there if certain things line up and you know I were to have an OCD moment or something but those moments are few and far between and they're a lot shorter lived than they used to be And I'm not afraid of those moments anymore.
I lived my life when I was younger in fear of like, well, when is this going to come back? And why does it, I don't even know what it is at that time. It's like, I wasn't like a diagnosed, you know, it was something I felt like I even had a hard time explaining to my parents. Like what they're like, what do you, what do you mean?
You know, like they're not, I mean, they weren't, you know, they're not clinical psychologists, so they don't really understand, you know? And so I can't imagine how afraid they were at the time of like, well, I wish we could help our child. You know, I can't imagine how helpless he would feel.
If my kids came to me with something that I didn't understand, I would be like, gosh, I don't even know how to explain. Like, where do I even take them? You know, and so that was a really defining part of like my childhood, you know. It's not the only memory, but it's the one that kind of sticks out as, like, this common theme.
Like, every couple of years, I would go through these really brutal OCD stints without even knowing what was going on.
Wow. Do you feel comfortable talking about some of those days?
Oh, certainly. Yeah. Certainly. I mean, like, days, like, filled with, like, rumination, you know? Like, a lot of, like... People ask me about it and what the experience is like, and I try to describe it to people, and it's almost indescribable sometimes.
I think they think, and this is not a slight to anyone that may think this, if you haven't experienced it, you almost can't understand it to some extent. And they're like, well, how often? I'm talking about 95% of the day. from opening your eyes to closing them at night, you are thinking about this thing.
And it's causing you a tremendous amount of anxiety and mental anguish to try to find the answer to this unanswerable question. It's scary because it's like you're so... I think it's helped my songwriting, and I think it's helped my ability to be creative. I think the creativity can be a blessing and a curse in that way.
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Chapter 3: What impact does OCD have on Luke's life and creativity?
It was basically like one of the big no-nos of OCD is seeking reassurance that whatever the thought you have is not right. founded in any fact or reality, right? Like that's the trap. It's like trying to solve the problem. So when you're young and you're in it, you're constantly seeking reassurance in your own mind to like discredit the thoughts that you're having.
And so I would use that diagnosis. I would go and study this I would go study what's Piro and understand the way that people that have it think and the tools. And I was looking that stuff up to try to alleviate the anxiety from the thoughts.
Little did I know, and not that anyone should do this, I would not suggest it, but little did I know I was basically teaching myself to be an expert on anxiety. the disease that I had or the mental illness that I had. And so now I'm so well-versed and studied in it. And again, not a therapist, don't claim to be. Now I know the thought patterns and I'm so familiar with like,
I can feel it coming on. I know when it's happening. I know why it happens. And I know I just have the entire tool belt of like getting rid of it if I need to. And I think that as I mean, it's a blessing and a curse. You know, it was a curse the way I got to it, but it's a blessing now. Having that knowledge, it keeps me from slipping into that state a lot, a lot.
And when I talk about OCD, I mean, that's the most interaction I get from people reaching out to me a lot. It's like, hey, man, you're the only guy I know that's ever talked about this. Because it's kind of like an obscure variant of OCD. It's not as common as like... Sure. You know. You're hearing about it more and more now.
Certainly. Yeah.
Certainly. It's like, it's definitely an understudied thing. I mean, there was a time even 10 or 12 years ago, I was looking it up that some OCD doctors were like, that's not a real thing. Yeah. I'm like, wow, what a dangerous thing to like say in a public, like what an arrogant thing to say.
Like if you've never had it to, even though you're an expert regardless, and I'll probably get roasted for this online. Like, How dare you say it if you've never, like, you, like, saying someone's mental condition, like, doesn't exist is an incredibly damaging thing, especially given the nature of the one that you're talking about.
Because that statement in and of itself could send someone into a six-month spiral. Like, that statement could kick off an entire another episode of, like, life-crippling OCD for someone with OCD. Because then they would read it and go, oh my God, it's not real. I really am a murderer. Or I really am going to crash my car into a school. You know what I mean? Yeah, for sure.
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Chapter 4: How did Luke Combs' upbringing shape his values?
And, you know, I can't imagine going home and opening up the cabinet and there's nothing in there. You know, there's no, it's not even a can of corn in there. You know, I couldn't imagine that feeling. And so she forced me to do that when I was younger. And I'm thankful for that because, you know, she's still doing things like that. You know, she still goes out and works at the
you know, at the animal shelter, at the food bank in Nashville. And, you know, I got to go from that to, you know, after Helene, you know, that ravaged the part of the country that I grew up in. And when we put on the benefit concert in Charlotte, my portion of the proceeds, part of my portions of the proceeds, rebuilt the entire food bank that I worked at growing up.
It was completely destroyed, like completely gone. And I got to watch my success and influence have the ability to do something that great and rebuild their entire facility.
Chapter 5: What is the significance of giving back to the community for Luke?
And that is like something that you can't even put words on. And like the amount of pride I have in that is... You know, like my most proud moment of my career from here on out and forever will be, you know, the show that we did that night and getting to see these charities send me videos and emails and stuff. here's what we did and here's how this worked and here's how this happened.
And it's just cool to get to be a part of that, you know? And it's not, I don't come at it from, it's not like an egotistical pursuit. It's just like, you get to like watch the money that you raised and you get to watch you know, people be directly impacted by these things that we got to do. And I owe all that to my team. You know, I owe all that to everyone else.
Like I always say, like, I'm the guy that works the least amount. Like I'm, I have the easiest job in the whole thing. Like I think, um, obviously I do a lot of things. I'm in a lot of places. I go to a lot of different things and I'm constantly working, but when you love it, it doesn't feel that way. And I'm just grateful for everyone else on my team that allows me, you know, their, their
They get to be a billboard for me when they're out meeting. Even if I'm in there getting touched up before this thing and they're talking to you and you're like, man, well, these people are nice. So I really do believe it's top down. I try to be great and give my team the ability to be great because we work in a good environment. We respect each other.
And that transfers, man, and people can feel that. I said people can feel that energy when you're around. And that's my biggest point of pride is when we're at a show, whether it's the stadium or we're going and doing a club gig for, you know, we played a club gig last year, first time in five years, and it was wild. It was like 850 people in the Georgia Theater in Athens and, like, wild.
a venue we used to play and like, it felt like the biggest venue in the world.
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Chapter 6: How does Luke Combs define true success?
And you go back and when I'm walking through the halls backstage or whatever, like even the people working the doors are like, they'll say to me, your, your team is the best team we've ever worked with. Like everyone was so kind and so gracious and they communicated so well and they're all professional and they were all in great spirits.
And like, to me, that is like, that's the legacy I want to leave behind is like, you Sure, I had a lot of success. Sure, I had a bunch of hit records and sold a lot of tickets and sold a lot of T-shirts or whatever. But all that be damned, like, you know, my headstone, you know, here lies good man, good dad, good husband, good friend, good son, good boss.
Like, that's the things that I want to be remembered for. And so I live every day trying to make those happen to the best of my ability.
what is one thing about love you've had to unlearn that it's earned that it needs to be forever for it to count february is the month of love whether you're in a relationship casually dating or proudly single it's a great time to reflect on yourself and what you want i'm hope woodard host of the voiceover podcast and each week this month we're looking at love from every angle
I don't know how to tell my partner, like, what I want in bed. The thing about romantic fiction, I would say, more than any other genre of culture, is that it's always put women first. My marriage stopped making sense. The connection started to feel off. The behavior started to feel different. This February, get in touch with yourself by listening to Boy Sober. That's B-O-Y-S-O-B-E-R.
I'm like, I would love to not hate the man I'm sleeping with. I don't know what that's about. Listen to Boy Sober on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
I saw a video of you starting a concert or at one point in a concert, basically saying, guys, I'm not feeling well today. I'm still going to do the show, but we're going to give you a refund.
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Chapter 7: What lessons has Luke learned from his marriage?
And I'm like, dude, you did the show. Like you showed up, you did the show, but you were like, I'm not going to be my best or something like that. I was like, wow, that's amazing. I love it.
I remember it was in Maine is where it was.
That's it, yeah.
We did two nights in Bangor, Maine, and the first night show was great. Run-of-the-mill show, and by run-of-the-mill, I mean we had a great time. It was great. It was fun. We got buddies in town. But the particular that venue is wonderful, by the way. And we were backstage and they have great like they have a fire pit going and they're bringing you out food and like all the employees are so nice.
And it's just a great atmosphere to hang out in. And so we had some friends in town and, you know, up having some cocktails, but we were all outside. I'm talking two or three times as loud as I normally was because we're playing music. We're having some drinks. We're staying up late.
And the next day I wake up and I'm like, man, my voice is like just a little like it's just a little rough, you know, like not my worst morning I've had like by a long shot. And I know I've done that enough times to know how it goes and know how it's progressing. And so as the day went on, I'm like. I'm like, well, man, this isn't like progressing the way it normally does.
Like it doesn't feel like it's getting much better. So I don't know, I guess maybe around two or three o'clock I call my manager and I'm like, hey, this ain't going so hot. I'm starting to get a little bit worried because we have the show tonight. And I said, could you and I've done this maybe twice ever once was in Australia. This was the second time.
I said, I was like, I need to get a steroid shot to do the show tonight. And I hate doing that. If you're any kind of singer, you should not get those because they're horrible for your voice in the long run. Don't, it's not something you should be doing a lot. Um, it should be an absolute emergency parachute situation, which it was for me. Cause I'm like, well, everyone's here.
I get the steroid shot and I'm like, okay, I'm going to be good. I'm going to get through this. A couple hours goes by. I go to do my warmups. I do my warmups. Let's say we're on at nine. I'll do my warmups at eight. It's 20 minutes, 25 minutes. And then I'll join the band and we all hang out and have some drinks, get together, whatever. And I get five minutes into my warmup.
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