Luke Combs grapples in private with a debilitating health struggle | CPT PPP Coverage

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For all his public confidence, the biggest name in country music – Luke Combs – has grappled in private with a debilitating health struggle.

The affable and incredibly down to earth megastar speaks comfortably about his rare form of OCD – something he’s learned to control with the same powerhouse precision he uses to belt out countless hits on stage.

And his record-breaking Australian stadium tour has been no different.

“Probably the worst flare-up of it I’ve had in, I would say three or four years, started about two days before this trip,” Combs told 60 Minutes, just hours before he performed to nearly 80,000 adoring fans at Sydney’s Accor Stadium.

“It’s something that in some way I at least think about every day.

“There’s some tinge of it to some extent every day.”

But it may not be quite what you think.

Our interview with the 34-year-old wasn’t interrupted with trips to the bathroom to wash hands, or a compulsive need to flick a light switch.

“No, it’s different – mine’s different,” Combs says.

“It’s more of an obscure form of OCD.”

Known as Pure O, it’s something Luke has lived with since he was 12 years old.

Essentially, a feedback loop of random, intrusive thoughts than can cause crippling anxiety.

Even on stage.

“It’s thoughts essentially that you don’t want to have that you’re having, and then they cause you stress, and then you’re stressed out and then the stress causes you to have more of the thoughts and then you don’t understand why you’re having them, and you’re trying to get rid of them,” Combs says.

“I’m lucky to be an expert in how to get out of it now.

“I’m probably 90 per cent out of my flare-up now … and in the midst of doing a world tour, right?”

In his loveable style, Combs hopes he can not only entertain – but also be an example to others, that even superstars are dealing with something.

“And if anyone tells you they’re not, they’re lying!” he laughs.

“So the message is, if there’s someone out there that’s struggling with it, it’s possible to continue to live your life and be really successful and have a great family and achieve your dreams while also dealing with, you know, things that you don’t want to be dealing with.”

When it comes to Luke Combs, ‘successful’ is an understatement.

Beginning in school choir, Combs taught himself guitar at 21, before making it performing in the country music epicentre of Nashville, going on to become one of – if not the – most popular country artists in the world.

And – as he was quick to point out on stage in Sydney – he’s no bigger than right here in Australia.

“There’s more people that listen to me here than anywhere in the entire world,” he declared to the crowd.

“So I’m feeling pretty confident that there’s some of my kinda folk in Sydney tonight!”

It’s tough for even Combs to pinpoint what exactly makes him so popular – beyond his incredible song-writing and flawless singing, of course.

What he does know, though, is his legion of fans might just see themselves in Combs – the everyday guy, who loves a beer and singing about the simple things in life, and who fame hasn’t changed in the slightest.

“There’s no story that’s like the gripping headline of, like, guy who pulls himself up by his bootstraps, you know,” Combs jokes.

“Fame exacerbates whatever you already were, right? LIke, if you’re difficult, it makes you more difficult, if you’re kind, it makes you more kind.

“I am who I am, and I think it’s just continued to be that way. It’s just I have the opportunity to do it more freely now, I guess.”

Watch the full episode of 60 Minutes on 9Now.