Luke Combs Celebrates with Olympic Gold Medalist and Ohio State Stars at Ohio Stadium

Luke Combs brings lots of star power wherever he goes, but he called in some more anyway for his latest concert. 

As part of his “My Kinda Saturday Night Tour,” the country music superstar welcomed a member of the United States’ gold-winning Olympic men’s hockey team and three players from Ohio State’s most recent national championship football team onto the stage at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. 

That led to a wild moment.

Combs, sports stars share a beer 

Midway through his show Saturday night, Combs and his band launched into their hit, “1, 2 Many” as the crowd roared its approval. 

They got even more hyped when Will Howard, Sonny Styles, Carnell Tate and Zach Werenski joined him on stage just in time for the line, "What you say we shotgun one?"

Howard and Werenski did just that, shotgunning beers with Combs as Styles and Tate hyped up the crowd (as if that was necessary), creating an iconic moment at the century-old stadium. 

While Howard, Styles and Tate are all recent Ohio State football players who were part of the 2024 national championship team, Werenski is a member of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets. 

Werenski added even more to the spectacle by wearing the gold medal he won as a member of the USA Men’s Hockey team at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in February, but most in the crowd probably still recognized the football players more because football remains king in Columbus. 

Styles, a linebacker who tore up the NFL Combine, and Tate, a receiver, were both picked in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft on Thursday night. The Tennessee Titans used the fourth overall pick on Tate while the Washington Commanders snapped up Styles at No. 7. 

Howard was picked in the sixth round by the Pittsburgh Steelers last year. 

RELATED: Win Carnell Tate's Snickers 'Chill Chain' from NFL Draft Night

A historic night? 

Ohio Stadium opened in 1922 and has a listed capacity of 104,944 for football.

"The Horseshoe" has hosted many major concerts over the years, including Billy Joel and Elton John, Taylor Swift, The Rolling Stones, Metallica, George Strait, Beyonce and Jay-Z. 

It is also the home to the annual "Buckeye Country Superfest" that Combs headlined in 2022.

This was the first time the stage was set in the middle of the football field rather than in the south end zone, which necessitated blocking off seats for nearly a quarter of the structure.

Because of that, the show was expected to set a record for the largest crowd for a concert in the venue.

No attendance figures were available at the time of this writing, but Combs told the crowd at the beginning of the show it could be the biggest he had ever played for. 

He leaned into the Ohio State theme by walking into the stadium to AC/DC’s “Hell’s Bells,” which plays when the Buckeye football team takes the field before games, and one member of the band wore an Ohio State national champions sweatshirt. 

The merchandise stands also included Columbus-exclusive items, including a t-shirt with Ohio State’s iconic silver helmet and buckeye leaves. 

Combs’ tour kicked off March 21 in Las Vegas and is set to continue Saturday, May 2, at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. 

The two-hour set in Columbus included many songs from his new album, The Way I Am, along with big hits such as “When It Rains It Pours,” “Hurricane,” “Beer Never Broke My Heart,” and his cover of Tracy Chapman’s hit, “Fast Car.”