Rarely does the Super Bowl halftime stage see the likes of a country music star headlining the highlight-anticipated game day intermission. However, with the growing popularity of the genre and the endless possibilities at hand– now more than ever, fans have been petitioning for a country artist to take the reins.
Country superstars tend to stick to singing the national anthem, but with artists like Chris Stapleton, Zach Top, and Reba McEntire absolutely stealing the show with their renditions, it always leads to the conversation of extending their performances to halftime. The last and only notable country football crossover was the 1994 “Rockin’ Country Sunday” halftime show with Clint Black, Tanya Tucker, Travis Tritt, and The Judds. Doug Kershaw also took the stage at Super Bowl XXIV in 1990, and we could maybe count Shania Twain’s appearance during the 2003 game as the last opportunity in the past 20+ years.
Many have recognized the notable potential in doing a similar multi-artist “Rockin’ Country Sunday” show with a slew of the biggest names, as well as country legends (even a few cross-genre artists could be thrown in for diversity). Unfortunately, while country music may be at the top of the charts right now with songs like Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” continuing to change the game by dominating the Billboard Top 100, there are still very few options in this playing field who could stand out alone as big marketable acts for the NFL.
However, if one man from this generation of music could pull it off, it would arguably be two-time CMA Entertainer of the Year winner, Luke Combs. The guy is just a standout act, lovable for both his personality and the endless number of hits. Expanding on his growing discography, the North Carolina native appeared on the Zach Sang Show ahead of his big Friday, March 20, album release,The Way I Am.
Co-host Dan Zolot asked Combs, “Have you been pitched the super bowl half time show? I feel like that just makes too much sense.” To which Combs disappointingly replied with a “No” before pitching country music as a whole to the Super Bowl, saying, “I think country is in the zeitgeist now, like it’s not a niche genre anymore.”
While Combs was a bit hesitant at first and admitted he has no idea how one would even get recruited to sing for the Super Bowl, it led into an open discussion about the prevalence in country music and how he believes there’s something for everyone in the genre, whether it be the Morgan Wallen fans, or Zach Top fans or the traditionalists and that he’s just happy to have been a part of country music history
Ending the conversation, he emphasized, “Superbowl come on, dude, we’re all waiting, somebody’s waiting, make the call. One of us is ready.” Zolot then asked the million-dollar question,“Would you wanna do it if they asked?” to which Combs let out an enthusiastic, “Oh hell ya, I would do it. I would do it right now.” Adding to the dream scenario, Zolot also noted, “Imagine if the Panthers were in there that year.”
If you haven’t noticed by now, thanks to his extensive Panthers hat collection, as a North Carolina native, Combs is a devout fan. Alluding to his ‘I made it’ moment, he replied, “You asked earlier, like when would you know? That would be it.” Then hilariously clarifying, “Unless they lost the Super Bowl that would be devastating. I would feel like it was my fault.”
“That would be it for me. Stick a fork in me, I’m done at that point.” While hopefully Combs’ dream Super Bowl will come into fruition someday (whether it be by performing or the slim chance that the Panthers make it into the 2027 big game), he’ll be returning to the Carolina Bank of America Stadium for two nights on his upcoming My Kinda Saturday Night Tour. The 16 stadium dates will kick off this Saturday, March 21, in Las Vegas and wrap up later this summer on August 1 in London.
Full Episode:
Tour Dates:
- March 21: Las Vegas, Nev. @ Allegiant Stadium*
- April 4: Charlottesville, Va. @ Scott Stadium†
- April 11: Ames, Iowa @ Jack Trice Stadium†
- April 18: South Bend, Ind. @ Notre Dame Stadium†
- April 25: Columbus, Ohio @ Ohio Stadium†
- May 2: Knoxville, Tenn. @ Neyland Stadium†
- May 9: Norman, Okla. @ Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium†
- May 16: Green Bay, Wis. @ Lambeau Field†
- May 30: Montréal, Québec @ Parc Jean-Drapeau†
- June 6: Toronto, Ont. @ Rogers Stadium†
- July 4: Gothenburg, Sweden @ Ullevi‡
- July 7: Paris, France @ Accor Arena§
- July 11: Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Johan Cruijff Arena‡
- July 18: Ireland @ Slane Castle‡
- July 25: Edinburgh, U.K. @ Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium+
- Aug. 1: London, U.K. @ Wembley Stadium#
*with special guests Dierks Bentley, Ty Myers and Thelma & James
†with special guests Dierks Bentley, Ty Myers, Jake Worthington and Thelma & James
‡with special guests The Script, Ty Myers and The Castellows
§with special guests Ty Myers and The Castellows
+with special guests The Teskey Brothers, Ty Myers and The Castellows
#with special guests Thomas Rhett, Ty Myers and The Castellows