"Beer Never Broke My Heart" is a song co-written and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer

Luke Combs Luke Albert Combs (; born March 2, 1990) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Born and raised in North Carolina, Combs began performing as a child, most notably performing at Carnegie Hall. After dropping out of college to pursue a ...

. It is Combs's sixth single release to country radio, and the first from his second studio album ''

What You See Is What You Get In computing, WYSIWYG ( ), an acronym for What You See Is What You Get, is a system in which editing software allows content to be edited in a form that resembles its appearance when printed or displayed as a finished product, such as a printed d ...

'' on

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

Nashville.

History and content

Combs wrote the song with

Randy Montana Randy Schlappi (born September 23, 1985), known professionally as Randy Montana, is an American country singer signed to Mercury Records Nashville. His first album, ''Randy Montana'', was released in 2011. Early and personal life Randy Schlappi ...

and Jonathan Singleton, and

Scott Moffatt Scott Andrew Moffatt (born March 30, 1983) is a Canadian musician. He is the lead guitarist and vocalist for Canadian band the Moffatts, alongside his younger triplet brothers Clint, Bob, and Dave. Early life Scott is the eldest child of ...

was the track's producer. Combs first performed the song acoustically in concert in January 2018.

Taste of Country Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wi ...

wrote of the song's lyrical theme, "He sings about everything else in life that can hurt a person, but ultimately comes to the conclusion that beer is the only safe bet!" The song features a list of various things and people that have disappointed the narrator in his life, before concluding in the chorus that "long-neck, ice-cold beer never broke my heart." The song features a guitar riff which was described as owing "as much to hard rock as country" by

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

reporter Robert Crawford.

Commercial performance

''Beer Never Broke My Heart'' peaked at No. 1 on ''Billboard''s Country Airplay chart dated August 4, 2019, which made this Combs' sixth number one on the chart. The song was certified 5x Platinum by the RIAA on April 18, 2023. It has sold 321,000 copies in the United States as of March 2020.

Critical reception

reporter Robert Crawford described the song as "a country hit for the digital streaming generation, with just enough genre-crossing charm to rope in the city slickers". Stephen Thomas Erlewine, writing for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, described the song as "a clever drinking anthem that summarizes the bold undercurrents of ''The Prequel'' EP quite well."

Music video

The music video was created by TA Films and premiered on CMT and

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, di ...

in 2019. In the video, Combs performs in a small

dive bar A dive bar is typically a small, unglamorous, eclectic, old-style drinking establishment with inexpensive drinks; it may feature dim lighting, shabby or dated decor, neon beer signs, packaged beer sales, cash-only service, and a local clientele. ...

, similar to gigs he played early in his career. The video also depicts a

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

game between RS Central and East Rutherford, portrayed as a

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

game, filmed at RS Central High in

Rutherford County, North Carolina Rutherford County is a county in the southwestern area of the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 64,444. Its county seat is Rutherfordton. Rutherford County comprises the Forest City, NC Micropolitan St ...

. A

360-degree video 360-degree videos, also known as surround video, or immersive videos or spherical videos, are video recordings where a view in every direction is recorded at the same time, shot using an omnidirectional camera or a collection of cameras. During pl ...

was filmed for the song in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

, and was released in December 2019.

Live performances and other versions

Combs performed the song on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...

'' in May 2019, the 2019 CMA Awards in November 2019, and on

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

in February 2020.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2019 songs 2019 singles Columbia Nashville Records singles Country rock songs Luke Combs songs Songs written by Luke Combs Songs written by Jonathan Singleton Songs about beer Songs written by Randy Montana