Luke Combs is on the Mt. Rushmore of current country music stars. So, it’s crazy to envision a time when music executives thought he’d have a better chance as a songwriter than a singer. Luke was trying to break in during the Bro Country Era, so that pretty much explains it. In an interview with Scott Van Pelt awhile back, Luke said, “When I moved to town there was a lot of people that were like . . . you’re destined to just be a songwriter for these bigger artists, because you don’t look the part.” But Luke’s response to these executives was PRICELESS. And shows exactly why he was destined to be a super star in country music. He said, “We’re talking about COUNTRY music here. If anybody looks the part, it’s me. The other guys don’t look the part, that’s the problem . . .
If you’ve got time to burn, just search YouTube for “Willie Nelson jokes.” He’s got a ton of good ones in his back pocket. An old clip of Johnny Knoxville interviewing him in 2012 is making the rounds. Johnny asked if he knew any good jokes, and Willie rattled off three in a row. Be warned, the last one is R-rated. It’s about a woman and her mailman, and the tip she gave him for Christmas.
Jelly Roll seems like a pretty laid-back guy. But over the weekend he got into a Twitter war with a woman who said that she could never listen to his music, because of his NAME. Jelly went off on her, calling her young and toxic, and accusing her of spreading negativity. When she replied that it was just a joke, he accused her of talking big, then backing down after he called her out. The back-and-forth was really childish, particularly on Jelly’s part. And he eventually admitted that it was, quote, “out of character for him.” But he added, quote, “You [can’t] reason with stupid.”
Carly Pearce recently linked up with Ryan Hurd to record a cover of Tom Petty’s “Breakdown” for the upcoming tribute album, “Petty Country”. Fans started speculating that it was a dig to Ryan’s ex-wife Maren Morris. Well, Carly was quick to shut that down. She says, quote, “Ryan has a been a friend of mine for over 10 years. I was asked by my label to record this song with him for the Petty tribute and of course I said yes because he’s a great artist . . .”STOP making something out of nothing!”
Shaquille O’Neal is 52.
Tom Arnold is 65.
Kiki Dee is 77. Biggest hit: 1976’s “Don’t Go Breakin’ My Heart” with Elton John.
Rob Reiner is 77. Director of “This Is Spinal Tap”, “The Princess Bride”, “When Harry Met Sally” and “A Few Good Men”. But your grandparents know him as Meathead on “All in the Family”.