Luke Combs has revealed that his youthful ambition was not to become a country star—but rather, to be something a bit more unexpected. Namely, a homicide detective!

The 29-year-old shared his college career path on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. "My major was criminal justice,” he shared. "I wanted to be a homicide detective. But if you noticed, I don’t actually have the physical build of a police officer."

Although the field may seem a far cry from where he ended up, it actually relates to his songwriting. "I think solving the puzzle was the intriguing part to me, which is what I love so much about writing songs," he explained.

"It’s a puzzle that has no pieces, so you make the pieces, and then you have to put them together—and that’s the thing that I enjoy so much about writing music."

What was the reasoning behind him leaving his initial career path? "I was a pretty bad student, so that helped a lot," he joked. "I had been in school for five years at that point and I've been singing my whole life, I didn't understand like 'Wow you can do something that you like and people will pay you for that.' I didn't comprehend that."

Combs also spoke to the late-night talk show host about his upcoming first headlining stadium show at his alma mater, North Carolina's Appalachian State University’s Kidd Brewer Stadium, on May 2, 2020. The show is already sold out, and is just one stop on his What You See Is What You Get Tour.

Combs then performed a mini-concert in part of Kimmel's Mercedes Benz Concert Series. The crooner performed "Even Though I'm Leaving" and "1, 2 Many" which is off of his upcoming sophomore album, What You See Is What You Get, which was released on Nov. 8.

Watch his performances below!

 

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