Luke Combs officially has a star on the Music City Walk of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee. The powerhouse country star said the honor is beyond what he expected his future would hold when he moved from his North Carolina hometown to pursue his career.

Combs shared a few snapshots by photographer David Bergman from the Walk of Fame ceremony on Thursday (March 20), including one of himself and his wife, Nicole Combs, kneeling beside the newly-unveiled star. Nicole commented on her husband’s Instagram post, “so proud of you my love ♥️”

“When I moved from North Carolina to Nashville, I had no idea what the future held for me there,” Combs said. “I only hoped I could do enough in country music to pay my bills. It was never about any kind of recognition, just the love of music. And I didn’t really know anyone here at the time, but I eventually met my wife and some of my best friends. I’ll be forever grateful for this and Music City taking me in as one of their own. I get to do what I love, which is singing country music, because of it. I feel honored to be in such prestigious company on the [Music City] Walk of Fame, so thank you to everyone who made this possible.”

Combs said in a clip shared on Visit Music City’s Instagram story that Nashville is deeply meaningful to him, particularly as the city that became his home, and the city where he met his wife and the couple’s two kids were born. He and Nicole are parents to two young sons, Tex Lawrence Combs and Beau Lee Combs. The “Forever After All” artist said “there’s no amount of words that could describe what it means to me.” Combs launched his career with his smash-hit breakout single, “Hurricane,” in 2016. It was the lead single of his 2017 debut album, This One’s for You. Since then, the country megastar has become known for his award-winning rendition of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car,” hit Twisters anthem “Ain’t No Love In Oklahoma,” “The Kind of Love We Make,” “When It Rains It Pours,” “She Got the Best of Me,” “Beautiful Crazy” and many more.

Other inducers who appear on the Music City Walk of Fame include Dierks Bentley, Johnny Cash, Eric Church, Patsy Cline, Faith Hill, Alan Jackson, Wynonna Judd, Loretta Lynn, Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, Tim McGraw, Dolly Parton, Elvis Presley, Kenny Rogers, Randy Travis, Keith Urban and many more. Visit Music City describes the Walk of Fame, along Music Mile, as “a landmark tribute to those from all genres of music who have contributed to the world through song or other industry collaboration and made a significant contribution to the music industry with connection to Music City.”

Todd Matthews