It was back in 2018 that Luke Bryan joined Lionel Richie and Katy Perry at the judging table for the revamped “American Idol,” launching a new chapter on ABC after a wildly successful 15-season run on Fox.
As “Idol” gears up for the landmark 25th season, set to begin early next year, Bryan is looking back on his experience with the show.
‘A Real Blessing’
Bryan appeared as guest host on a recent edition of syndicated radio show “Backstage Country,” where he ruminated on the looming season of “Idol,” which will be his 10th.
“A quarter of a century that ‘American Idol’ has been on TV,” Bryan observed. “And for me to be doing this with Ryan [Seacrest], Carrie Underwood and Lionel Richie has been amazing.”
As he pointed out, becoming a network TV star was not something he’d ever had on his Bingo card when he first began his career as a country singer. In fact, he told “Backstage Country” host John Shomby that he was initially reluctant to become a part of “American Idol” when he was first approached, but now can’t imagine what his life would be like without the experience of being part of the beloved TV talent competition.
“Watching the kids through the years that have walked into the ‘American Idol’ stage in the Oval and performed, it’s been a real blessing for me to look back and go, ‘Man, I’ve spent that many years on TV in people’s households,’ and I look back going, never could have imagined 10 years,” he added.
His Goal: Spreading Happiness
During his conversation on “Backstage Country,” Bryan explained that whether he was recording, performing or critiquing singers on “American Idol,” he wants to ensure that he’s not spreading himself too thin, and can give his all to whatever he’s doing at any particular moment.
“My dad’s 82 years old, and he still works full time now,” Bryan revealed with a laugh.
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to do some of the concerts at that age, but the main thing is as long as I feel like I’m delivering a great show to people, my voice, thank the Lord, has been really, really strong this year, and as long as my voice feels good, I feel good, and I can go play some music, and hopefully make people have fun and smile, I’m going to continue to do that. I mean, there’s elements of my career that I can curb and maybe not say yes to everything,” Bryan continued.
For Bryan, it’s all about making sure that his fans are satisfied — and that he’s satisfied he delivered everything that he could.
‘“Every opportunity I could to prove myself to 100 people or 100,000, I tried to do that and still try to do that to this day,” Bryan explained. “I want people to leave my concerts going, ‘Wow, that was better than we anticipated,’ and ‘That guy’s having fun. Nobody’s having more fun in the room than that guy.’”
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Luke Bryan Reflects On His Upcoming 10th Season of ‘American Idol,’ Admits It’s Been ‘A Real Blessing’