Cody Johnson Thanks Luke Combs for Opening a Major Door for Him

Life has been a whirlwind for Cody Johnson since he signed his record deal in 2018: He's released three albums (two have been certified Gold), several singles (with one certified 2x Platinum) and has won a handful of awards.

However, nothing could have prepared him for this once-in-a-lifetime moment opening for Luke Combs on Combs' World Tour.

"Well, a big moment was getting to go to Australia and New Zealand with Luke Combs to open up," Johnson tells PopCulture. "And the biggest moment of that is while we were there, not only did we figure out that people all over the world, on a completely different continent — I could have gotten to Asia or to Antarctica quicker than America — people knew every word to every song."

And it wasn't just Johnson's biggest hits.

"They were mad because I didn't play certain songs that were songs that I wrote 10, 12 years ago when I had a publishing company or a publishing deal here in Nashville," he continues. "And that was a big eye-opener, man."

Johnson is prepping for his own headlining Leather Tour in 2024. The trek launches on Jan. 19 with several US dates, but he's not stopping there. After a successful run with Combs, he's now planning his own international dates.

"We're going to Canada, we're going to Brazil, which is going to kind of tee up '25, going to the U.K., going to Australia, and doing these things that, kind of following in the Luke Combs footsteps, honestly, for the doors that I just mentioned that he had opened for us," he shares.

"Really taking this career that I've worked so hard for, to the next level."

In addition to a tour, Johnson is planning to release a deluxe version of his Leather album this year.