Luke Combs Reveals How His Producer Nearly Stripped Us All of His Iconic “Fast Car” Cover

Throughout his time in the spotlight, Luke Combs traveled the country with stars like Jason Aldean and Tim McGraw. But besides rubbing shoulders with some of the biggest names in country music, the singer also released five studio albums. His last, Fathers & Sons, released back in June 2024. Recording songs like “Forever After All”, “When It Rains It Pours”, and “Beautiful Crazy”, the country singer received numerous rewards. He even got the chance to perform “Fast Car” with Tracy Chapman. However, according to the singer, his producer tried to talk him out of recording the iconic hit. 

In June 2023, Garth Brooks set out to expand country music around the world. He did this by launching the BIG 615 radio station. Having shared conversations with top names in the industry, Brooks decided to welcome Combs. Discussing a wide range of topics, Brooks eventually touched on Combs performing alongside Chapman. “One of your biggest successes might not have come from country music, but Tracy Chapman’s ‘Fast Car.’ It took off and it didn’t feel like it was planned. It felt like it caught everybody, including you and the record label, by surprise.”

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Luke Combs Only Cared About Performing “Fast Car”

Shocked by the success that followed the song, Combs revealed how his producer, Jonathan Singleton, tried to talk him out of covering the song. “We get in and we finish early and Jonathan is like ‘What do you want to do?’ I said, ‘What if we do a cover of Fast Car?’ I wanted to do it for me. I remember Jonathan trying to talk me out of it. He was like, ‘Dude, that song has been covered so many times. Nobody’s gonna care.’”

While not disagreeing with his producer, Combs insisted, “‘I don’t care if anybody cares. I just want to have it.’ I had been covering it for years in college and it’s always been this really big part of my life. So we did it and it turned out really great. We put the record out and we didn’t promo it or anything and it just took off.”

Thankfully, Combs followed his gut and recorded the song that not only gained him praise but also a memorable moment at the Grammy Awards.

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