When “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma” reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, it became Luke Combs’ 18th chart-topper on the tally. But this one was different from its 17 predecessors for the Sony Music Nashville artist. “Oklahoma” was the lead-off single from Atlantic Records’ Twisters soundtrack and his first hit spawned from a movie. Also, as the song spends its second week atop the chart, it brings Combs’ cumulative weeks spent at No. 1 on Country Airplay to 53, making him only the sixth artist in history to have spent more than a year at the summit.
Every one of those 18 No. 1s has been promoted to country radio by Sony Music Nashville senior vp of promotion Lauren Thomas, who oversees promotion for SMN’s RCA and Columbia imprints. And that feat earns the radio veteran, who joined SMN in 2009, the title of Billboard’s Executive of the Week.
Here, Thomas explains how Sony Nashville and Atlantic worked together to promote both the song and the movie, how Combs’ previous No. 1, his remake of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car,” paved the way for a broader audience and how Combs integrated the song into his sold-out summer stadium tour. “Honestly, [‘Oklahoma’] is a Luke Combs song through and through and perfect for the live stage,” Thomas tells Billboard. “Luke did the perfect job of writing something for this massive film and soundtrack and making sure it was original to him as well.”
“Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma” is No. 1 for the second straight week on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart. What key decisions did you make to help that happen?
We are fortunate to have a hit song along with an incredible track record with Luke at country radio. The team’s relationships paired with communication with our partners on our goals — and ultimately their support — drove this one home.
“Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma” is from the Twisters soundtrack, which Atlantic released. How did you and Atlantic work together to take “Oklahoma” to country radio, while also promoting the film?
Working with Kevin [Weaver, Atlantic Records president, West Coast] and his team from the beginning was exciting. From the beginning, their team wanted to make some noise. With the teases of the trailer directly [to] moviegoers inside the theaters to the massive music video with Luke and all the film footage, we were given the ball to make this Luke’s next No. 1 single and their team trusted us to do so.
The song leans more into rock than Combs’ songs usually do. Did you receive any initial pushback from radio?
Luke has a solid track record and his sound covers a wide range. Tempo from a superstar like Luke was embraced fairly quickly and given a real opportunity with immediate airplay from a world premiere across all chains.
Though written specifically for the soundtrack, what about the song do you think appealed to Combs’ existing fan base and did you work it as if it were a standard Combs’ single release or were there different elements that came into play because of the film?
Honestly, it’s a Luke Combs song through and through and perfect for the live stage. If you’ve never seen a Luke show before, it fits perfectly into his set. Whether a ballad or something more hard-hitting, they love Luke and are here for him and I think Luke did the perfect job of writing something for this massive film and soundtrack and making sure it was original to him as well.
How did you tie in with the success of the movie to help promote the song?
It was all Luke. Luke was on his massive sold out stadium tour at the time of the movie so there was an easy tie-in to have Luke talk about the song as well as what it was like to shoot the music video for such a big blockbuster — which, as Luke explained, was a very different process from a standard music video shoot, most notably having debris flying at him during filming. That, and of course the weekend the movie came out Luke invited Glen Powell and some of the cast up on stage for his shotgunning beer moments.
“Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma” is Combs’ 18th No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart. What has been the strategy when taking him to radio in terms of picking singles and working with him and his manager, Chris Kappy?
It is very much collaborative with Kappy, Sophia [Sansone] and our respective teams. Luke definitively knows his audience and speaks into the decisions we make — he leans in and always has with both his fans and our partners. It’s wild to think about the days of driving Luke around in a rental car to radio station shows and visits and now Kappy, Sophia and I get on bi-weekly calls to talk through things like multiple sold-out stadium dates. Wild.
Combs’ songs have now spent a cumulative 53 weeks at No. 1 on Country Airplay, making him only the sixth artist to have registered more than a year. Is there one thing you and your team have consistently done when taking Combs to radio that has resulted in such a huge number?
It really is the perfect marriage of compelling music and communication to partners. Luke has done an incredible job of consistently delivering music that moves people in a variety of ways. The enthusiasm from Luke and his team is contagious and the Columbia promotion team carries that energy into the promotion of his music and the execution of our goals.
He took his cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” to No. 1 in 2023 and that song also received some crossover play on pop formats. How did that increase his audience?
The whole collective team — management, marketing, press, promotion, etc. — came together to push this in front of new audiences. It really wasn’t one thing alone. The song and story behind it were everywhere and people who had never heard of Luke Combs now know who he is.
This might be a really silly example, but I have worked every Luke Combs number one. When “Fast Car” came out, it was the first time my dad spoke to me about Luke Combs’ music. He knew who Luke was but this song and story behind why Luke cut it was familiar and clearly spoke to him. In contrast, same story with my little brother. Working with [senior vp of pop promotion] Brady Bedard and the team at Columbia was a dream and opened the door for both Luke and that song to have another moment with audiences at the different formats.
The song also made history for Tracy Chapman and brought us one of the most memorable Grammy performances to date. They both just looked so happy. I will always be honored to have been a small part of that song.
What did you learn from this rollout that you can use with other songs from soundtracks, and do you think the Twisters’ soundtrack success will lead to more country artists having songs on soundtracks?
I think we always have to be open to different ways to promote music and this song helped our team do that. Having an extra bonus of a song being in a film and as the lead from the soundtrack just helps add the exposure of any song no matter the genre.
Country music is about storytelling so I think music supervisors should certainly pay more attention to the genre to help tell the stories of their films and shows. This soundtrack helped bring the genre to the forefront at a time when country music is shining. I can only hope that the music teams at these film companies realize the power a song can have to really amplify their story.
