“I Just Lost It” – Luke Combs Explains Why He Broke Down During Newport Folk Festival Set

Dad life.

This past weekend, Luke Combs headlined the Newport Folk Festival at Fort Adams State Park in Newport, Rhode Island, where he had a pretty viral moment, breaking down in tears while singing “Whoever You Turn Out To Be,” which was part of his highly personal project, Fathers & Sons, that he put out lats year and included a number of songs about fatherhood and raising his two boys, Tex and Beau.

When Luke was first announced as a headliner for the Newport Folk Festival, reaction from fans was mixed at best. It typically sells out every year before the lineup is even announced because it’s such a well-respected and impressive event ever year, so people trust that certain types of artists will make the cut every year.

Luke is obviously down the middle county, so it was a bit of a different pick, but it sounds like he really curated his set list to fit the more stripped back, acoustic style of the festival, but he didn’t anticipate just how emotional he would get playing these newer ones about being a dad. And in the middle of the song, after Combs sings the line “But you ain’t gotta change the world to make your daddy proud,” he fully breaks down and has to take a second to compose himself before continuing with the song.

After taking a few beats with his head in his hands, Combs grabs his towel and apologizes to the crowd:

“Sorry. That got me a little bit.” 

Then jumps back into the chorus, but you can tell that the song is choking him throughout the remainder of the performance. After the song’s conclusion, Combs says to the crowd.

“I remember why we don’t play that one very much… I apologize. I don’t apologize, because I was in the moment there…”

It was honestly precious:

@lukecombshq “But you ain’t gotta change the world to make your daddy proud” Read More