There’s something twisted about Luke Bryan that can’t be denied anymore. In 2023, he canceled shows and complained about “voice problems.” Many fans who saw Luke in concert last year thought he sounded terrible.
On July 8, 2024, an “unverified tea” thread on the Celeb Wives of Nashville subreddit ran with this story. The OP mentioned Luke’s “voice on tour this year.” Some users expressed concern, while others threw shade at Luke’s annoying habit, which could indicate a more disturbing problem.
The OP wondered if Luke’s “production team” had added “autotune” or “effects on his voice, more than in the past…?” They claimed to have seen YouTube videos of Luke last year when his voice sounded “shot.” It quickly turned into a conspiracy theory.
One user set the record straight on the “huge difference” between Luke’s shows in “summer 2022 vs. summer 2023.” They “walked away” from Luke’s concert last year “really disappointed.”
They wrote, “The show was just not great,” and Luke “didn’t sound the same.” Making matters worse, Luke “barely chatted with the crowd,” and he acted “off” and “really tired or medicated.”
This wasn’t the first comment about Luke acting strange. Us Weekly reported in August 2023 when Luke was forced to cancel his “3rd show in 3 days.” Shockingly, the headline claimed that Luke could “hardly even talk” due to a serious-sounding “illness.”
Us Weekly confirmed that Luke had shared the disappointing news with fans on social media. He wrote, “For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been battling a head cold.” But was Luke hiding the real truth last year?
Luke Struggles to Balance His Life and Career
On June 12, 2023, Entertainment Tonight reported that Luke was planning a “getaway” with his wife, Caroline, “after a busy year.” That might sound romantic, but Luke also revealed some shocking secrets in his interview with ET’s Rachel Smith.
Luke sat down with Rachel at his branded bar in Nashville called Luke’s 32 Bridge. ET reported that Luke had hosted a party for his fan club at the bar.
Luke confessed that he wasn’t “balancing” his life and career too well in 2023. He told Caroline it had been a “rough year.”
RELATED: What to Know About Luke Bryan’s Wife Caroline
That’s when he promised her that they would “get through it” and “find a boat and go to the Caribbean or something.” But is that really what Luke needed to get better?
His fans on the subreddit jumped on Luke with serious allegations that he’s started to drink too much on the road. One user claimed they saw Luke in 2023, and “he told the entire crowd that he’d been drinking all day.”
Another user didn’t just agree with this. They alleged that this was Luke’s “thing” a couple of years ago when he allegedly told a crowd he’d been drinking “Screwball all night.” They added that “bragging about drinking and being hungover… doesn’t make you cool.”
Another user commented, “I wouldn’t be surprised.” They sadly alleged that “it’s pretty evident” that Luke has struggled with his drinking “for a while now.” This user agreed with the OP’s conspiracy theory about autotune, calling it “more reliable than risking it with more weak/bad performances.”
Fans Think Luke Might Be Singing to a Track on Stage
Even when they’re throwing shade at Luke, users on the subreddit admitted they still “absolutely love him and his family.” It sounded like tough love when someone wrote that Luke had “blown up like a tick in the last years,” suggesting that drinking may be causing Luke to gain weight and look puffy.
Another user jumped on this and wrote, “OMG, I thought the same thing.” They explained that they’d recently seen Luke in a concert in Michigan and dissed him for acting “cringy” when he “still does the ‘shake it for me’ in his tight pants.”
RELATED: Luke Bryan Mocked by American Idol Contestant
All shade-throwing aside, one user on the subreddit provided some inside knowledge on autotune. They claimed “it’s possible” that “effects” get added to Luke’s performance in a “live setting.”
This source also thinks that Luke might be “singing to a track” when he’s on stage, or “he may be truly singing, but his sound guys are enhancing the sound with pre-recorded vocals.” However, Luke might have also “put in some work and strengthened his voice.” The source admitted that “it’s hard to tell” unless someone listens to Luke’s in-ear monitor “or direct feeds from the soundboard.”
Luke’s Druken Performances Have Been Glorified
Whether or not Luke does perform with “effects” or autotune, the more twisted side of this story continues to be his drinking habits. Shockingly, some country websites have glorified Luke’s drunken antics on stage, including Whiskey Riff, who wrote this past June about “the drunkest performance” of Luke’s career.
Whiskey Riff explained that Luke had appeared on “NELK’s Full Send podcast.” On it, Luke got to talking about “his wildest moments as a country singer.” It sounded like Luke was bragging again.
Luke recalled a performance he gave to around 200 people in Iowa earlier in his career. The concert happened on the “first day” of college football season. Luke said, “I was on the bus, and we just got trashed.”
He admitted that when he got “on stage… it was awful.” Luke added that he “never got it together,” although he got through “the whole show. By the end of the show,” he had “kinda sobered” up.
That might sound like Luke’s most “drunken” performance, but wait for it because years later, it got worse.
Luke Regularly Performs Drunk
Shockingly, Luke confessed that his absolute worst “drunken performance” happened at a “charity event’ held at his house. He revealed that he “drank a whole bottle of Casamigos on stage.” While the 500-600 people there didn’t mind, Luke realized later that he enraged the “neighbors” all around him who were sitting on their back porches “like a mile away.”
Luke might have been exaggerating, but he said on the podcast that he swore “like a zillion times on the mic, and a million people heard it throughout the county.” When he woke up the following day, Luke didn’t just have a screaming hangover.
His guilty conscience thought of all those neighbors hearing him drop the f-bomb repeatedly. Luke thought, “God, I gotta make some phone calls” to apologize.
After a couple of the “drunken” performances that he’s admitting to, you might think Luke would see this as the perfect opportunity to change his lifestyle. Wait until you hear what else he confessed on the podcast. According to Whiskey Riff, Luke claimed he “likes to drink a cup of grapefruit juice and vodka” before every show, “but that’s all.”
Fans Are Very Concerned About Luke’s Safety
This past May, iHeart Country reported that Luke had spoken out about “falls” he’d taken on stage, which turned into viral videos. Luke appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live and wanted to “clear the air” about a rumor about him.
Luke’s onstage falls and the rumor were connected to allegations that he drinks too much before performing. He wanted to nip that one in the bud.
Jimmy sounded like a true-blue Luke fan when he admitted during their interview, “I’m a little worried about you.” That’s when Luke ripped into the rumor.
Luke told Jimmy that fans were throwing shade at his tumbles onstage. He claimed that “nine out of 10 comments… point to me being drunk.”
Seriously, Luke? What did you expect?
According to Luke, he’s 6’2” and “trying to do Michael Jackson moves in too big of a frame.” He claimed he was wearing cowboy boots onstage and slipped on water that had spilled out of a bottle in at least one instance. You need to hear what else Luke added to this excuse.
He told Jimmy, “You just can’t drink a bottle of vodka and go do a two-hour show.” No, Luke? What about that bottle of Casamigos during that crazy charity concert at your house?
Hopefully, the real truth will come out about Luke, and he’ll stop falling, swearing, or showing up at concerts sounding awful. For Luke, the main thing is to have a “fun career” and a life full of “laughter and happiness and joy and everybody getting along and coming to [his] shows.” That’s the Luke we know and love!