Luke Bryan: I Almost Auditioned For American Idol
Luke Bryan has generally stayed away from TV opportunities that weren’t related to awards shows or new music releases. The upcoming American Idol reboot on ABC was different, though, and he’s explaining why in a new interview.
For starters, Luke just liked being on the road. “I had gotten pretty crafty at saying no to TV opportunities because I was so in love with my touring world,” the superstar tells Billboard, which recently spoke to Luke and fellow judges Katy Perry and Lionel Richie. “I’ve got that world figured out. You know, I spent the first few years feeling like I was in a washing machine, but then when this came, when I found out that it was ABC and it was a reboot and I knew that Katy was on board, and then they told me Lionel was on board too, I thought, ‘Okay, let’s get the meetings, get the people that I need to talk to. Can we make it work?'”
Is it @LionelRichie you’re looking for? #TheNextIdol pic.twitter.com/es6K5MdY6t
— American Idol (@AmericanIdol) November 18, 2017
And it turns out that Luke not only watched the show over the years, but actually considered auditioning. “I was new to Nashville and American Idol was finding huge country stars and I remember thinking, ‘Well, dang, maybe I may need to go down there and try out.’ I think the only way you didn’t watch American Idol when it came out is that you were living in a cave.”
The new American Idol starts March 11 on ABC. As for what to expect from its new judges, “We’re artists, not record company executives or critics,” Luke recently told Variety. “These 15- and 16-year-olds are still a couple of years away, but you can see their promise, the potential. We’re not there to discourage them. If we word it wrong, they may give up all up.”
Teddy McDonald is a fun-lovin’ country music fan man living in Nashville, Tennessee.
