Cody Johnson Opens up About Friendship With Luke Combs: “He’s Done a Lot for Me”

Cody Johnson is sharing his appreciation for Luke Combs after he hopped aboard an international tour with the singer. Johnson credits Combs with helping to widen his appeal to international audiences.

Speaking with Pop Culture, Johnson discussed touring with Combs to the Land Down Under. Johnson opened for Combs in both Australia and New Zealand. It ended up being a big moment for Johnson as the singer realized that his music reached farther than he ever dared to dream. He had fans at the concerts who recognized all of his greatest hits.

It proved to be a bit of an eye-opener for Johnson, who credits Combs for making it happen.

“Well, a big moment was getting to go to Australia and New Zealand with Luke Combs to open up,” Johnson said. “And the biggest moment of that is while we were there, not only did we figure out that people all over the world, on a completely different continent—I could have gotten to Asia or to Antarctica quicker than America—people knew every word to every song. They were mad because I didn’t play certain songs that were songs that I wrote 10, 12 years ago when I had a publishing company or a publishing deal here in Nashville. And that was a big eye-opener, man. “

[See Cody Johnson in Concert]

Cody Johnson is Thankful for Luke Combs

According to Johnson, he and Combs are good buddies, and Johnson is thankful for all of the support that Combs has shown him. Johnson had a great year in 2023.

He said, “So big thank you to Luke for that, friend-to-friend, he’s done a lot for me. Another huge thing was releasing ‘The Painter,’ to start off our album release of Leather, starting to get out of venues that we’d been playing here in the United States that we are starting to outgrow that I thought we’d never outgrow. And that’s really a model of growth right there, that every country artist wants to have.”

Johnson is thankful for all of the friendships that he has built up in Nashville.

He continued, “Being the independent artist or being a guy from Texas, there was always this stigma about, ‘You’re not ever going to make it in Nashville.’ And here we are, with so many friends, so many business relationships and such a growing career, in the town that everybody told me I’d never thrive in. 

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[Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images]