Last season, Luke Combs and his fantasy football league came up with quite the punishment for finishing in last place: And that punishment was exacted during the singer’s Cincinnati, Ohio show on Saturday (Aug. 3.)
In between songs, Combs paused his set to explain that he and his league had agreed that the losers would come out onstage and sing with him in front of thousands of people.
“I’ve been in a fantasy football league with some of my best friends from high school for 12 years now,” he told the crowd. “Last year we decided that whoever lost was gonna have to come onstage and sing with me tonight.”
But that’s not all: Combs’ fantasy football punishment wound up going to not one but two losers.
“Lucky for me, there was a scoring issue in the last game, and my two best friends in the whole world both lost, and they both have to come out and sing in front of you guys tonight,” the singer went on to say. “And it’s about to happen. I’m so excited.”
Combs’ singing partners for the evening had different thoughts: The singer said his friends had “been nervous about this for a long time.” But a deal’s a deal, and both came out onstage to perform a song of Combs’ choosing.
“I want everybody to get a nice look at their blue suede shoes, because these boys are about to be walking in Memphis,” he continued, as the crowd erupted into cheers.
What ensued was an enthusiastic — if off-key — rendition of Marc Cohn’s “Walking in Memphis. Combs’ best friends might not share his singing chops, but they certainly shared his stage presence and charm. One even signed his baseball hat and tossed it out into the crowd.
The fantasy football punishment took place during night two of Combs’ stay in Cincinnati as part of his 2024 Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old Tour.
Carena Liptak is an Associate Editor and staff writer at Taste of Country. She specializes in breaking country music news, interviews and lists. In particular, she’s got a soft spot for sad songs — check out her roundup of the 50 Saddest Country Songs of All Time!