Luke Combs To Display Tracy Chapman Cassette, Other Items In Hall Of Fame

Luke Combs will share a unique glimpse of his life and career in a new exhibit opening at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Downtown Nashville, Tennessee.

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum announced on Wednesday morning (May 15) that Luke Combs: The Man I Am will make its debut this summer. The exhibit will track the country megastar’s life “from his blue-collar North Carolina roots” to now, displaying musical instruments, manuscripts, stage wear, memorabilia and other artifacts, according to the Hall of Fame. Combs will also take part in a songwriter round in the CMA Theater at the museum in support of his exhibit opening. He’ll share stories behind some of the songs he’s written with collaborators Ray Fulcher, James McNair, Drew Parker and Rob Williford, who will also be present for the songwriter round. That event is set for July 11 at 2:30 p.m., per the museum. Combs is also featured in the American Currents: State of the Music exhibit, an annual exhibit that spotlights some of the most notable artists and moments in music that shaped the genre throughout the previous year. Other artists featured in the exhibit include Lainey Wilson, Kelsea Ballerini, Jelly Roll, Taylor Swift, The War and Treaty and many more.

“Once I decided I wanted to do music as a career, it didn’t matter if it was for 100 people or 1,000 people, I just wanted to be playing Country Music for anyone who would listen,” Combs, leading 59th ACM Award nominee, said in a press release issued Wednesday morning. “If I could have enough fans to call it a job, I was set. Other than that, I never dreamed of being featured in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, much less having my own exhibit; that was beyond my wildest dreams. But honestly, it’s all a credit to my fans, family, songwriters and team. I have only made it to where I am today because of them, and this honor is one of my most humbling yet. At my core I love Country Music and this exhibit is as prestigious of an honor as it gets.”

These are a few of the items that will be displayed in the Luke Combs: The Man I Am exhibit, noted in the release:

• Martin GPCPA4 Sapele acoustic guitar Combs used extensively at his early performances, 2012–2014. When he moved to Nashville, Combs gave the instrument to his friend and fellow performer Adam Church.
• Playbill from Combs’ leading role as Nathan Detroit in the musical “Guys and Dolls” during his senior year at A. C. Reynolds High School, Asheville, North Carolina.
• CD-R of the three songs recorded for Combs’s debut EP, The Way She Rides, signed by Combs and Adam Church and given to Church’s parents. Combs wrote on the paper sleeve, “To the Church’s / Y’all rock SO hard!”
• Columbia PFG shirt and Swamp Assassin ball cap Combs wore in the 2016 music video for “Hurricane.”
• Manuscript of “Six Feet Apart,” co-written by Combs, Brent Cobb and Rob Snyder on April 14, 2020.
• Dale Earnhardt commemorative leather jacket Combs wore in honor of the famed stock car racer and team owner when he performed at Daytona International Speedway prior to the start of the NASCAR Daytona 500, Feb. 14, 2021. Earnhardt was killed on the final lap of the Daytona 500 in 2001.
• Jersey that Combs wore when he was a member of the Rockets football team at A. C. Reynolds High School.
• Dollar bill Combs kept as a memento from his first paying gig at Boone’s Parthenon Café, where the cover charge was $1.
• Crosley Dansette portable record player Combs used to share his recording of “Beautiful Crazy” with Nicole Hocking, now his wife, for the first time.

“Few artists have experienced the kind of meteoric rise and sustained success Luke Combs has since signing his first recording contract just two years after moving to Nashville,” said Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. “He has earned a career-defining string of #1 singles, set new benchmarks on the music charts, won more than a dozen major country music industry awards since 2016 and sold out stadiums around the world.”

Combs marked his first No. 1 radio hit in 2017 with “Hurricane,” and has followed with many others since then, including “The Kind of Love We Make,” “Lovin’ On You,” “When It Rains It Pours,” “She Got the Best of Me,” “Beautiful Crazy,” “Forever After All,” and his award-winning cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car,” to name a few. His latest full-length album is Gettin’ Old, which released last year as a follow-up to 2022’s Growin’ Up. Combs has recently teased fans with snippets of unreleased songs, including ballads about fatherhood as he and wife Nicole Combs raise their two young sons.

Luke Combs: The Man I Am will open on July 11. The exhibit is included with museum admission, according to the Hall of Fame. It will remain available until June 2025.