Luke Combs Reveals the Bold Decision He Made During His College Years originally appeared on Parade.
Luke Combs had to choose between staying in an a cappella group or joining a fraternity during his sophomore year in college at Appalachian State University.
The country superstar, 35, recently guest-starred on an episode of The Dog Walk podcast, where he revealed the fork in the road decision he had to make and why he ended up opting to keep singing rather than taking part in Greek Life.
Combs said while he did rush in college with the initial thought that he’d do both, after receiving a bid to join Kappa Alpha Order, he was faced with a scheduling conflict.
“On Big Brother reveal night, we had a concert for the a cappella group, the same night that was gonna be at the same time,” Combs explained of the heartbreaking situation. “So I told the guys in the fraternity… So I tell the guys, ‘Hey, I really gotta do this concert tonight.’ Because there’s only like 12 people in the group, it’s not like there’s 1,000 guys in the a cappella group. I’m like, ‘Your boy’s got solos. I can’t just not go.'”
Unfortunately, Combs said the fraternity members left him “no wiggle room” to juggle the two passions, leading him to take one path only.
“They’re like, ‘Well. You’ve gotta choose, dude. You’re either doing this or that.’ I was like, ‘Well, I’m doing that, dude. I’m out,'” Combs said of giving the guys the answer that he was sticking with a cappella.
The “One Number Away” hitmaker also shared several reasons why he went the route that he did.
“It was the idea that was making me pick one or the other,” he said of how the ultimatum turned him off, adding that he had already been “over” with “the pledge thing.”
“I was like, ‘What? I’ve gotta give you gum? What the f—k is this?’ I don’t know. I’m not going to be friends with you if I’ve gotta carry around stuff for you all the time. Like, I’ve gotta have a bouncy ball? What is this? Are we 10 years old? So, I’m doing that and I’m already kind of over that part,” he said. “Why does anyone really join a fraternity? To go to parties and meet chicks is kind of the deal, right?”
Further backing up his reasons to walk away from the fraternity, Combs added, “I was just like, ‘I kind of already sing and I’m already kinda good at that. All I’m doing with you guys is paying to be your friend, which I already have a lot of friends anyway.’ So it just didn’t line up.”
Despite being forced to choose one over the other, Combs, who has gone on to win countless awards and accolades and score nearly two dozen No. 1 hits, says he made the right choice.
“I made the right choice, obviously. I ended up here,” Combs said. “So I made the right choice. But, I would’ve loved to do both.”
Luke Combs Reveals the Bold Decision He Made During His College Years first appeared on Parade on Aug 6, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Aug 6, 2025, where it first appeared.
